FORT PIERCE, Fla. — An independent, private school in St. Lucie County is not paying its teachers, WPTV learned this week.
During a Zoom call, the Creative Learning Lab Academy informed staff that they cannot cover payroll costs.
WATCH BELOW: Teachers at Fort Pierce school wait for paychecks
However, the exact reason for the school's inability to pay remains unclear because the school and a different nonprofit organization, Step Up For Students, are providing conflicting information regarding the source of the issue.
In an email to staff, Christopher and Balanga Madison, the co-owners of the Fort Pierce school, told staff that funding from Step Up For Students, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit, has been delayed until November.
The owners said this funding delay forced the school to find a different company to front the school's money to meet payroll.
"The company we originally had an agreement with withdrew at the last minute," the Madisons wrote. "This has caused us to have to switch to another company. ... We will have a better idea tomorrow from the new company we are working with as to when they will be able to advance funds to us. We are hoping to be able to have payroll checks issued by the end of the week."
Staff, who were scared to speak to WPTV for fear of losing their job, told us they received some of their pay on Tuesday. But, they also said those paychecks didn't include overtime and an additional missing paycheck.
"At any moment, the doors can close," a Creative Learning Lab Academy teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, told WPTV. "We are struggling as much as they [parents] are struggling with what's going on. The people who are still there do care about the kids. We all do care about the school and want it to work. But, we're not sure it's going to (work)."
As of this week, teachers told WPTV that about 10 employees have left the school. They said the departures have caused class sizes to grow. Staff members also claimed the school has been giving parents false reasons for teacher absences, such as saying employees are sick.
"We don't want to leave them astray," the teacher told WPTV. "But, you feel like at any point the doors may close."
The Madison family and the school haven't responded to WPTV's inquiries since Aug. 26, which included visiting the school on Thursday. School officials directed us to the owners, who called us back and said they would send a written statement. WPTV received no statement as of Friday afternoon.
The family owns another independent private school in Los Angeles with a similar name, where the Madison family is based.
Step-Up For Students administers multiple state-funded programs that help students afford private school, according to the group's tax documents. Those programs include the Hope Scholarship Program, the New Worlds Reading Scholarship Program and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.
On its website, Creative Learning Lab Academy advertises a partnership with the nonprofit and asks parents to apply for the scholarship.
A spokesperson for Step-Up For Students said it is not aware of any 2025-26 funding delays at Creative Learning Lab Academy, contradicting the claims made by the school's owners.
Step-Up for Students said its records show 27 students, who renewed their scholarships and enrolled in the school by June 15, had scholarships funded by mid-August.
However, 99 students are waiting to get funds because they applied for the programs past the deadline. The nonprofit said those funds would get dispersed in September, November or even later.
Martin Carnoy, who is a professor at Stanford University, said independent private schools depend solely on tuition money to pay bills. He said tuition made up about 90% of the revenue for a private school where he served on the board, which also had a lot of donations and support from an endowment.
"They depend almost totally on tuition, unless they have a board that's also giving them donations," Carnoy said. "If they're waiting, the teachers aren't going to get paid. ... It's like a little small business."
In the email sent to staff, the school's owners acknowledged that some parents hadn't paid their annual fees.
"We have asked parents to begin paying their mandatory annual fees, however, we have only received a handful of payments from current parents," wrote Christopher and Balanga Madison. "Our staff will be diligently contacting parents this week to get their payments in promptly so that we can use those funds to help meet salaries as well as overhead expenses."
