Dozens of parents of sixth graders who planned to send their students to East Windsor Middle Academy in St. Petersburg were left scrambling to find a new school just a few days before classes begin
"It's sad, it's scary," said parent Daisy Quinn. "I want nothing but the best for my children and I feel like I failed as a parent."
Quinn said she planned to send her twin boys to East Windsor and found out Wednesday night that the charter school was abruptly holding a new lottery for admission because a building under construction was not finished in time.
"They said we're building a new building and it's going to be done by the time school opens," she said. "Last minute, they told us that they were not able to finish the school, but they're hoping by mid-September."
Parent Krisi Moore said she was also left scrambling to find a new school just four days before class begins for her 11-year-old son.
"I'm very upset with Windsor," she said. "I understand things happen but the principal, she knew that the building wasn't going to be done."
Principal Jessica Clements did not respond to Bay News 9's multiple attempts to reach her, and a maintenance man at the charter school asked a reporter to leave.
"We appreciate it if you guys don't ask questions, don't ask anything," he said. "We don't want nobody here."
Bay News 9 obtained an email Clements sent to parents alerting them of the Thursday lottery. Clements stated they could only accept 65 students at the temporary facility in Pinellas Park.
"The current capacity of this building is 65 students," she wrote. "Therefore, we are holding a lottery for our sixth-grade students to award those spots."
Both Quinn and Moore said Clements told them at that Thursday meeting that more than 90 sixth-graders had applied. The parents said during the lottery the 65 open spots dropped at the last second.
"We found out that it was actually 32 students who were allowed to go to the temporary facility," Quinn said.
Moore said she removed her son from the wait list and enrolled him in his public zoned school.
"He was No. 11. However, I told them to take him off the wait list because we will not be returning to the school," she said. "I feel after this, there's no point."
Quinn said she enrolled her twins in a virtual school and hopes they can attend East Windsor later this year.
"I have two more children over there ... I've already paid for all my school supplies," she said. "I already put in half the volunteer time I had to put in and already paid for the shirts we have to buy specifically from the school."
Both parents said principal Clements dropped the ball.
"She should be explaining, apologizing," Quinn said.
"She didn't do what she should've done as a principal to protect our children," Moore said. "If she would've told us three weeks ago, it would've been like that really stinks, but I have time to prepare now. Not two days."
By Florida law, charter schools are governed by a board that works independently of public school districts. The Pinellas School District said they contacted the displaced families on Thursday night and hope to have all the students placed by Friday.