Boca Raton Charter School Gets Rent Reprieve, but Must Leave Building

By Marc Freeman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jun. 3–Boca Raton Charter School and its landlord reached a deal Monday that settles a nasty rent dispute, halts eviction proceedings and enables classes to end the school year on Friday without disruption.

“The school is not going to close,” said Kelli-Ann Bloechinger, spokeswoman for the 2-year-old elementary school serving 122 students in pre-kindergarten to fifth grade.

She canceled a planned news conference today that was to announce that children “will learn the meaning of ‘eviction,’ a word millions of Americans are learning, along with words like ‘foreclosure’ and other upsetting vocabulary.”

The elementary school acknowledged it failed to pay $18,210 rent in May for the 9,400-square-foot campus at 414 NW 35th St. Building owner Steven Greenfield filed a lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against the school’s operators seeking eviction and damages.

Judge Edward Fine on Monday signed an order, negotiated by the parties’ attorneys. The order requires that the school immediately pay $2,300, followed by a $9,460 payment next week; that the school receive a landlord credit of $6,450; that Greenfield take possession of the premises on June 16; and that the sides mediate all other disputes.

But the school, which is unaffiliated with the city government, does not have a home for the upcoming school year, Bloechinger said.

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

Boca Raton Charter School remains out of compliance with a Palm Beach County School District order to submit required financial statements throughout the year, said Jeanette Merced, the district’s charter school finance director. She said that the school has blamed its accountant for failing to produce the paperwork.

School officials first reported having financial problems in September and sought rent reduction. Greenfield has said he supports the school’s educational mission but was “simply doing what any property owner would do” in enforcing the lease.

Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.

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