Agape cut from state scholarship program
Most students likely will lose assistance
With just a week until the start of classes, more than 100 students at a private school in Pine Hills could be left scrambling to find a new school after the state abruptly terminated its eligibility for three voucher programs.
Agape Christian Academy will no longer be able to receive the Florida Tax Credit, McKay and Gardiner scholarships, programs that provide state money or tax credits for low-income families or for children with disabilities to attend private schools. Most of the school’s students used those programs to pay tuition last school year, records show, raising questions about whether it will be able to stay open without voucher money.
The decision by the Florida Department of Education to revoke Agape’s eligibility came after the Orlando Sentinel began
“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, director of scholarship and home education
asking the department questions about whether the school complied with state requirements.
The education agency said school leaders failed to follow through with an agreement with the state after Agape was found to be in violation of state requirements in 2016, according to a letter dated Aug. 3 to Agape CEO Ingrid Bishop. Agape failed to pay a company hired to help monitor students’ academic progress as required, records show.
Bishop did not return multiple phone calls and emails from the Sentinel seeking comment.
Demetress Morales, the school’s general manager, told a Sentinel reporter who visited the school at 2425 N. Hiawassee Road that Bishop was off-site on Tuesday morning. Morales said the department’s allegations are untrue.
“We are in compliance,” Morales said.
Orlando attorney Blair Jackson, who is representing Agape, said Tuesday that the school plans to start classes as planned for the year.
“We are working with the Department of Education to resolve any outstanding issues and are hopeful this can be done amicably and with as little disruption to the operation of the school as possible,” Jackson said.
Although the school can remain open, it is unclear how many students would be able to attend if they don’t get the state scholarships.
The DOE letter sent to Bishop said the school can’t dispute the department’s decision. Agape’s director, principal and any school with the majority of the same board members or employees can’t receive money from any of the three state voucher programs for 10 years, according to the letter.
DOE notified the Orange County school district that Agape won’t be able to receive the scholarships and is working with families to find other options for their children, Meghan Collins, a spokeswoman for the department, wrote in an email.
“Our top priority is supporting these students and their families to ensure their children will receive a great education at new schools that will fit their needs,” she wrote.
At least 124 students planned to use the state scholarships at Agape this year, state records show. Last year, the school had at least 119 students and received at least $527,000 through the three programs, according to records from the department and Step up for Students, a nonprofit organization that administers two of the scholarship programs. The vast majority of Agape students received one of the state’s scholarships, according to enrollment figures from DOE.
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 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.
To allow Agape to continue receiving scholarship funds, the school inked an agreement last summer with the Florida Department of Education that required the school to, among other things, sign a memorandum of understanding with Step up for Students. According to the document, Agape agreed to purchase an assessment from Northwest Evaluation Association and use the results to guide instruction and inform parents of their children’s progress.
But the Portland, Ore.based company told DOE that as of March 16, Agape’s payments were at least 196 days past due and the school’s account access was deactivated. The school also failed to meet the April 30 renewal deadline and left a voicemail on July 6 asking to be dropped from the program for the 2017-18 school year. This was a breach of the school’s settlement agreement, according to the department.
Last summer, Agape abruptly announced it wouldn't have a football program for fall 2016, citing financial troubles over the past year and a mass departure by players, leaving the school without enough participants.
The school plans to field a football team in 2017, Coach James Morris told the Sentinel this week.