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2 teachers quit, 10 students withdraw from Eagle Arts Academy

Posted at 5:37 PM, Apr 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-05 23:34:31-04

In the middle of a storm of uncertainty, 10 students have pulled out of Eagle Arts Academy this week and two teachers have quit.

"We raised our school grade from a D to a B, we are in par for a B right now, that was a big thing, we worked our tails off," said Julia Linzer.

But Linzer hasn't seen a paycheck since mid-March and she feared the school could not adequately administer the state's standardized test or FSA next week. She was tasked to assist the test coordinator, who was recently promoted from a different position after the principal who used to administer the tests quiet. 

"I felt that if I left the parents would understand the severity of what's going on and they could move on and take the FSA somewhere else," said Linzer. 

The Palm Beach County School District is training a new testing coordinator to prepare teachers to give the test. 

Meanwhile, some teachers have started aGo Fund Meaccount to help until they get paid next week. 

"Right now things are not looking good for any of us and that 11th is not around the corner for me," said Marlene Ortiz, a second-grade teacher at the school. 

Executive Director Greg Blount said he's working to pay his staff, make rent, pay utilities and keep students from leaving; a task becoming more difficult with other charter schools trying to recruit Eagle Arts Academy students. 

"We got a call from another charter school saying they want to come tonight and recruit students, I mean, that's not helpful. I mean yes we do have issues, but we have 90 days to cure those issues," said Blount. 

Eagle Arts Academy is hosting a meeting Thursday night for parents to ask questions and voice their concerns to the board. The meeting is only open to staff and parents.