"Sad and frustrated, mad, angry" Students on closure of Allapattah Wynwood private school
MIAMI - A middle of the year shock for dozens of students after their school abruptly closed its doors.
Lawyers for Allapattah Wynwood School a letter to parents on December 20th saying that on December 23rd the school would be closed until further notice. The letter cited a change in staff along with key information and equipment necessary to give kids the proper education, which was missing.
When parents and students returned to the school on Monday after the holiday break, they found the doors locked.
About 150 students attend the private school. Instead of instruction, students and parents protested outside the school house on Monday chanting and holding signs.
Joshua Trevino, 10, described what he and his classmates are feeling after their school shut down.
"Sad and frustrated, mad, angry," he said. "When I saw my other friends they were also sad because they also wanted to go to school.
Tuesday morning, Trevino's mother took him to the Miami-Dade public schools district office to file the paperwork for a transfer to his public home school. He said he was sad that he won't be able to go back to where he's been learning for years.
"I've been with them for like six years already and I'm already going to another school and I'm never going to meet them (his friends) again," he said.
Parents who are also upset and frustrated are protesting the closure.
"Parents were called and told that the school was going to open and then they came here and it was closed," said Jennifer Hernandez.
The private school is run by a family and was closed reportedly because of a family feud. Herbert Fonseca, a former assistant principal at the school, said he was let go by his family in December.
"My father Herbert Fonseca Sr. is the president of the corporation, as we speak I have no access to him," he said.
Miami-Dade public schools said they are registering students at several local schools and will accept them all.
"We have to provide a lot of empathy, understand where they sit right now, where they are and we're going to get their kids, we're going to get their beautiful children in school right away," said Miami-Dade schools Superintendent Jose Dotres.
Parents said the school should have be at least open until the end of the school year
"You should have the best interest of the children at hand. The best interest of the school would be to be open. To remain open," said Hernandez.
Since Allapattah Wynwood is a private school, they report directly to the Florida Department of Education. Hernandez says they've reached out multiple times to no avail.
