Boca Raton Charter School facing eviction

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

Boca Raton Charter School may soon lose the only home it has ever had.

Steven Greenfield, an attorney and landlord for the building on NW 35th Street that houses the 2-year-old facility, said he has filed eviction papers, claiming the school has not paid its April rent of $18,000.

In addition, Jeanette Merced, the School District’s charter school financial director, said Boca Raton Charter School has not filed any financial reports for the 2007-2008 year.

Merced also said the school has been receiving money from the county based on an enrollment of 150.  The county official said a check of school numbers done last October showed it was down to 101.

As a result, the county has cut back on funding.

Merced did say the county “doesn’t want the school to close.  They have a great program,” she told the Boca Raton News.  She also said the district would have to find space for the charter school children if the place folds.

In response to the troubles, the school hired a public relations firm, Transmedia, to get its message out.

In a statement issued through Transmedia, school officials said the landlord is trying to “evict its entire student body of 122 elementary school children on the eve of graduation from the once rat-infested property.”  Greenfield disagreed with that characterization of the building located behind Florida Atlantic University.

He also said he has supported the school, and gave them money for repairs and computers.

Greenfield noted that Principal Deborah Nash-Utterback came to him last year and asked for a reduction in rent.  He refused, saying that he has expenses to cover that have not decreased.

The Boca Raton News received statements from Transmedia and from the charter school’s attorney, Frank Bennardo, but was unable to reach Nash-Utterback by phone.

The statement from the school says that in February 2006, shortly after it moved into the building, the structure was found to be “infested with rats” and “in a deplorable and unsafe condition with roof leaks, then lightening destroyed the fire alarm system that is functional but still not meeting city code, which ultimately put the non-tuition school in a financial bind.”

Bennardo said he contacted Greenfield “in two phone calls to delay, suspend or forgo eviction proceedings while we negotiate, and to allow the students to graduate.  [The request] was denied.”

“I have assured the parents and teachers that I will do all that the law
allows to allow the graduation to occur [and] to defeat the landlord in these eviction proceedings,” said the attorney.

The last day of school in June 6.

Charter schools are public schools managed by independent governing boards through contracts with school districts. They receive money from the state based on student enrollment, but must find and pay for facilities.

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