JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Acclaim Academy is officially closed as of 3:15 Friday. It's the charter school's third and final campus to be shut down in Florida. With only a few weeks left of classes, students are now being relocated to their home schools so they can finish their testing.
Out of about 250 students, the Duval County School District said 179 have been placed in their respective schools as of Friday afternoon, leaving nearly 80 kids without a school come Monday morning.
Even if they have been placed successfully, parents said they're nervous for the sudden transition after just being blindsided with the news of the closing.
An eviction notice appeared on the school's doors Friday afternoon just before 3 o'clock. The building and parking lot were nearly empty, with exception of a few teachers cleaning out their classrooms.
Dwayne Thomas, the assistant principal of Acclaim Academy said the school was notified on Monday. The district said it received an official letter of notification on Thursday. According to the Florida Department of Education, there are no rules dictating when that letter has to be submitted. It can even be given the day of the school closure.
Kim Gornick took her 10th grader to sign up at their home school on Friday, per advice from the district, but it wasn't as easy as she was expecting.
"I think everybody's confused," said Gornick. "He still has to take his geometry exam and I'm told the school he's going to already finished theirs... They told us just to show up at the new school on Monday, but that's not the case. They have tons of forms to fill out just to prove we reside here."
If kids aren't placed in a school by Monday they can go to the district's head office for help.
"Could they not have waited just twenty more days to let them finish school?"
Gornick said her son went to Acclaim Academy to gain some military credits, but now she doesn't think any of those credits will transfer.
Teachers and the rest of the school staff are now unemployed. Not only are they missing out on this week's paycheck, but they won't receive any of the money they've been allocating from their salary for their summer pay.
The district said it sent employees over to the school on Thursday and Friday to help parents with the transition process. As for help for the teachers, Marsha Oliver, with the school district, said she's not aware of any employment opportunities for the staff of Acclaim Academy.
"Everybody's still in shock," said Thomas."It is important for us because we have families to support too, but we're here for the kids. Getting the kids placed is our top priority."
The FDOE said any state funding leftover will be given to the district. They also tell First Coast News that the Academy's middle school received an F grade in 2014. That was the only grade ever given in its two years of existence because they didn't have enough students to determine a grade for the high school, according to FDOE. That grade is based on student performance, state assessment and learning gain.
If a school gets two F's it has to be closed down.
FDOE said the school district has been doing it's job all along. After the school's owner, Dennis Mope, decided to shut it down the district decided to step in and help. It was not the district's decision to close the doors.
Just before 3 o'clock on Friday an eviction notice was posted to the doors of the building.
A few hours earlier, a volunteer and employee at the school told First Coast News that Mope was in town and the school's principal was allegedly meeting with him down the street. That was not confirmed. Many of the teachers say they have been trying to reach Mope but he hasn't returned any of their calls.
As for what's next for the faculty and staff at Acclaim Academy - job hunting - and possibly, according to one school volunteer, a lawsuit.
