Eagle Arts is no more; board pulls its charter
Wellington school’s bid for more time rejected by ‘appalled’ members.
Fed up with protracted efforts to close Eagle Arts Academy that seemingly left the door open for the charter school to welcome students once again this fall, the Palm Beach County School Board ended the school with one vote Wednesday.
Board members unanimously agreed with Superintendent Donald Fennoy’s assertion that the school’s financial woes, reports of pending eviction and questions about the school’s ability to staff its classes made it unsafe to deliver students to the school’s care.
Multiple board members declared they were “appalled” that the school continued to press for another opportunity after so many public failings, including
months when it didn’t pay its rent and weeks when teachers went without paychecks even as the district continued to make its required payments to the end of the entire fiscal year.
School Board Chairman Chuck Shaw said he not only wanted to see the school closed, he wants to examine the school’s finances in light of reports the school failed to properly withhold payroll taxes.
The vote came minutes after Eagle Arts’ attorney objected to the termination of its charter and pleaded that the school be given an opportunity to reopen with up to 188 students at a local Boys and Girls Club campus.
“I’m not really here to talk about the law. ... I’m here to ask you to step back, be creative and innovative,” said attorney William Berger. He asked that the board give Eagle Arts until Monday to sort out a new home.
But the board was having none of it.
“Most appalling to me, this school district submitted every payment to them ... and they chose not to pay their teachers,” said board member Barbara McQuinn.
“I’m appalled also,” said board member Frank Barbieri. “What I’m most appalled about is this could’ve been resolved earlier.”
The vote did an end run around two other avenues the district had been pursuing in its attempts to close the charter school, includ- in ga 90- day termination process that began in March. Eagle Arts had appealed that decision and won two delays in hearing the case, which would have given the school an opportunity to reopen this month before the case was decided.
Wellington-based Eagle Arts opened in 2014 as a charter school, meaning it is privately managed but operating with public money that follows the students.
Once home to more than 700 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, Eagle Arts’ rolls had fallen to about 275 at the end of last school year amid a series of scandals and high staff turnover.
The school’ s founder, Gregory Blount, has drawn criticism for steering more than $150,000 of school money into his own companies. In 2016, he was forced to repay $46,000 after The Palm Beach Post revealed the school gave him that sum in the guise of a loan.
Blount later collected at least $42,000 more from Eagle Arts when one of his companies billed the school for the right to call itself Eagle Arts Academy and use the eagle logo, website and data-processing system, The Post reported in April.
The district’ s attorney, Julieann Rico, assured board members that the school has acted in a way that justifies the board’s action. “The matter before you is legally sufficient,” she said.
The most compelling issue is the question of the school’s pending eviction as reported in court records, but with- held from the district during a phone conference with all parties, she said.
“We don’t have to rehash all of the issues,” said board member Karen Brill. “For me, this closure is unquestionably necessary. The only thing that hurts my heart is the students.”
The district staff is preparing to help each one find a new school, said Pete Licata, assistant superintendent for choice and innovation. Eagle Arts parents and students are invited to district headquarters on Forest Hill Boulevard Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to go over options from choice schools to other charters, he said. Other outreach is also expected.
Equally important is learning from those families, said board member Debra Robinson. She noted that a neighbor had planned to enroll her child at Eagle Arts and is frustrated at her public school alternatives. “We need to use this as an opportunity... There was something there working for children and parents — there were things not working. We use that to tweak how we are running our programs.”
Meanwhile, the charter school’s attorney, Berger, is not certain the matter is closed. “We’ll just let the court proceedings play out.”