School loses vouchers after owner is arrested
Sexual battery charges lead to scholarship cut
The Department of Education on Thursday revoked scholarships from a small Kissimmee private school just three months after it opened because its 20-year-old owner was arrested on charges of sexual battery on a 12-year-old former student at another
school.
The department said it was pulling Grace Excellence Academy’s scholarships — which are for children with special needs or those from low-income families — after the Orlando Sentinel reported Domynik Lewis’ Nov. 1 arrest.
Domynik Lewis opened Grace Excellence with his mother,
Adrienne Lewis, as its principal in August, five months after the department of education told another private school, Esther’s School of Kissimmee — where both Lewises worked — that Adrienne Lewis did not pass a criminal background screening. It ordered the school
to terminate her if it wanted to continue getting state scholarships, according to department records, but the school said she had already left in January.
A department spokeswoman said state law requires the department to perform background screenings of the owner of new schools — in this case, Domynik Lewis, who had no criminal record at the time — and not principals, which is why Adrienne Lewis wasn’t flagged when opening Grace Excellence.
The school has received $38,700 in scholarship payments so far this year, according to the department and Step Up for Students, the nonprofit hired to administer two of the state’s three programs.
Public records related to both schools provide more examples of how lax the state’s oversight is when it comes to the 2,000 private schools that will collect nearly $1 billion this year through the Florida Tax Credit, McKay and Gardiner scholarships. Together, those programs send 140,000 students to private schools on the state’s dime, making Florida the state with the most children using vouchers in the country.
The Sentinel’s “Schools Without Rules” series in October highlighted problems with the scholarship programs, such as schools that falsify fire or health inspection documents, hire people with criminal backgrounds and without college degrees, and set up shop in rundown buildings. The stories also detailed the education department’s failure to act in some cases, even after it was tipped off to problems at a school.
Sen. David Simmons, a R-Altamonte Springs, said he wants to push reforms to raise standards for the private schools.
“People who are supporters of this program want it to be successful, and we have got to come up with a way to reduce, and ultimately eliminate if possible, these abuses of a very good program,” he said.
A spokesman for House Speaker Richard Corcoran said the House planned to hold a hearing on the matter in light of the Sentinel’s stories.
By law, private schools that take Florida scholarships do not have to meet public school standards when it comes to facilities, academics or teacher credentials.
The education department documents on the pair of Kissimmee schools reveal the state approved Lewis’ application to receive the public dollars for Grace Excellence just four months after his 20th birthday and both schools had staff who would be ineligible for employment in Florida’s public schools, where bachelor’s degrees and state certification are required for teachers.
Domynik Lewis was hired at Esther’s School at age 18. He is a graduate of Poinciana High School in Osceola County and was studying at Valencia College, according to Natasha Griffin, the district superintendent for Esther’s School, which has nine campuses in Florida.
Valencia officials, however, said he had applied to the college but never signed up for classes.
Griffin said Domynik Lewis acted in the role of a teacher’s aide, though the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office called him a teacher in its press release about his arrest.
Both mother and son left Esther’s School in early January 2017, Griffin said. Adrienne Lewis, a “head supervisor” overseeing curriculum and student performance, was terminated and Domynik Lewis resigned the next day, she said.
No one at the school, Griffin added, saw any inappropriate behavior between Domynik Lewis and any student.
Domynik Lewis is accused of engaging in oral sex with a student at Esther’s School in November and December of last year. He faces five counts of sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation.
“Our hearts go out to any families affected by these tragic allegations, and we pray for healing and restoration for this situation,” Griffin wrote in a letter to Esther’s School’s parents on Nov. 3.
Jacob Ruiz, a spokesman for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, said the incidents occurred in the classroom, though he didn’t know if they happened during school hours. He said no other victims have come forward.
Domynik Lewis was still in the Osceola County jail Thursday, according to the corrections department website. Gregory Greenberg, Lewis’ attorney, could not be reached for comment. Adrienne Lewis also could not be reached for comment.
In February, the state asked Esther’s to provide a list of its instructional employees and their credentials after a parent filed a complaint against the school in January.
The department determined the complaint against the school, which received more than $660,000 in scholarships last year, to be unfounded.
The list the school sent back to the education department noted that the highest level of education for two teachers was eleventh grade, that four others — out of 16 — had only completed high school and the principal had college credits but no degree.
Adrienne Lewis had the highest degree — a master of science — according to the school documents.
As part of its investigation of the parent complaint, the department checked criminal background reports on Esther’s employees.
A department spokesman said in an email that privacy laws prevented it from revealing why Adrienne Lewis did not pass the background screening. She does not have any felony convictions in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “The department took no further action to determine the disposition of the case against Ms. Lewis” once Esther’s School told department staff she no longer worked there, a spokeswoman told the Sentinel.
Sentinel reporters visited Grace Excellence on Monday. A woman who answered the door of the school — located in the fellowship hall of St. James AME Zion Church — said Lewis was not available and the school had no comment.