Agape Christian Academy in Pine Hills, Florida, may be cut out of three different voucher programs because of its failure to meet state requirements.
Most of the students in the school receive vouchers, and the school may be forced to close. The state Department of Education has revoked its eligibility for voucher funding.
For its failure to comply with the state’s demands, the school has been ruled ineligible to receive vouchers for ten years.
Classes resume in public schools and many private schools in Orange County on Monday. DOE called and sent letters to the families of the 40 children who planned to use the McKay scholarship at Agape this year, saying they could transfer their children to a public school or another private school, or they could keep their children at Agape without the scholarship.
“If you choose for your student to remain enrolled at Agape Christian Academy, it is imperative that you understand you will not be receiving scholarship payments,” Laura Mazcyk, the director of scholarship programs and home education, wrote in the letter to families.
Patrick Gibbons, a spokesman for Step up for Students, which administers the Florida Tax Credit and Gardiner scholarships, said the organization had spoken with or left voicemails for the families of all 84 students who planned to use the scholarship at Agape this year.
“It is unfortunate that this happened so close to the start of the school year,” Gibbons wrote in an email.
The school has a history of run-ins with the Department of Education. During the past three years, Agape has failed fire inspections, taken money for a student who was not attending class and submitted required test scores late, records show.
In March 2016, the state suspended scholarship payments after DOE saidAgape falsified fire inspection reports on at least two occasions. A deal was reached a few months later to restore them.
In 2015 and 2016, the school submitted letters they purported were compliant fire inspections from Orange County Fire Rescue. But officials from the fire department said they did not generate the letters. The school had failed at least four fire inspections for various reasons, including having a fire alarm system that didn’t work and exits that were obstructed, according to records.
It is surprising to see that Florida is actually maintaining some standards for voucher schools. But the state’s action should be a warning to religious schools that the state may pull the plug if they don’t comply with what the state wants.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
““It is unfortunate that this happened so close to the start of the school year,” Gibbons wrote in an email.”
Well, yes it is. So what took so long? Didn’t have the necessary information to make the decision? Well, let’s see about that:
“The school has a history of run-ins with the Department of Education. During the past three years, Agape has failed fire inspections, taken money for a student who was not attending class and submitted required test scores late, records show.
“In March 2016, the state suspended scholarship payments after DOE said Agape falsified fire inspection reports on at least two occasions. A deal was reached a few months later to restore them.
“In 2015 and 2016, the school submitted letters they purported were compliant fire inspections from Orange County Fire Rescue. But officials from the fire department said they did not generate the letters. The school had failed at least four fire inspections for various reasons, including having a fire alarm system that didn’t work and exits that were obstructed, according to records.”
So, wait, the school falsified fire inspection reports and the plug wasn’t pulled immediately? I can’t even entirely fault Agape for this. The state of Florida is lucky not to have blood on their hands.
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A few other news reports on this school. One says that “school worker Orita McRae” was to be prohibited from working at the school. One reason might be a 2004 record for Medicare fraud. Who knows. Another gives an account of a shooting on the campus, apparently gang-related. I also tripped on a bizarre chart dealing with enrollments. They are steady for the elementary grades, drop for middle school and high school, except for a real spike at Grade 10.
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Well, one has to have a sacrificial lamb to placate the gods. “Sorry it had to be you, ACA, but your demise will make it look like there is accountability for the unaccounted for sector of private public-funding stealing schools.”
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Is there a 4th voucher program in Florida or only 3?
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“Agape has failed fire inspections,”
Well. That’s great. Good job, regulators!
These “innovators” should thank their lucky stars there hasn’t been a catastrophe yet. When there is people will ask “who is responsible for this” and they better have an answer that isn’t “markets”.
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Is there some kind of round up on what state lawmakers do for PUBLIC schools?
Is there some reason we need these all these public employees other than to write checks to contractors?
Charters, charters, charters, vouchers, vouchers, vouchers. Do public schools in Florida still exist and if they do does anyone in power give a rap about them?
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Here’s the exciting “new” approach DC has tee’d up for public school parents and kids this year:
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/08/states-school-accountability-plan-include-three-key-components
More and more and more measurements! No additional funding or new ideas, nothing interesting or appealing or beneficial to actual public schools (as opposed to their preferred theoretical privatized systems) but they will be measuring our kids! You can count on that! Once they get them measured they’ll start the campaign for more charters and vouchers, as they have every year for the last 20, and another year will go by with absolutely no benefit or value added for the 90% of kids in public schools.
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no benefit for kids, but continued benefit for those who make the measurements…
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“The school has a history of run-ins with the Department of Education. During the past three years, Agape has failed fire inspections, taken money for a student who was not attending class and submitted required test scores late, records show.”
Poor Agape. All that red tape.
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