MIAMI (WSVN) - A solution has been found for students who were unable to go back to class after their school suddenly shut down. Officials are now working to get many more students enrolled at other locations as soon as possible.
Riverside Elementary School is one of several Miami-Dade County Public Schools welcoming students from the Allapattah Wynwood private school that’s no longer open.
After realizing the family-operated school closed Monday, parents were outraged.
That’s when M-DCPS stepped up to help.
“We’re gonna get their beautiful children in school right away,” said Dr. Jose L. Dotres, the superintendent of M-DCPS.
District officials said they gave more than a dozen students registration packets and sent them to their neighborhood schools, like Riverside Elementary.
Other schools include the following:
- Citrus Grove Elementary
- Comstock Elementary
- Paul L. Dunbar K-8 Center
- Earlington Heights Elementary
- Santa Clara Elementary
- Shenandoah Elementary
- Phillis Wheatley Elementary
Some parents apparently registered their children by the end of the school day Monday.
While M-DCPS are trying to get these students back in the classroom, parents said it’s not that easy.
“In reality, all the children have not been accommodated,” said Jennifer Hernandez, a parent.
She said Allapattah Wynwood school has her child’s medical records, and that it is expensive to get copies of them in order to register at a new school.
Not only that, some parents with children with special needs said public school won’t work.
“It’s going to be tough for my son to start a new chapter with an unknown person,” said Herver Perez, a parent.
Perez said his son would have to part ways with the only therapist he’s ever known.
“Public schools, they are OK, they’re great, but they don’t offer what I was getting here,” Perez said.
As for Allapattah Wynwood, it remains a mystery when it will reopen since a legal battle between relatives led to its closure.
Herbert Fonseca, who was the former assistant principal at the school, said his father is the executive director of the school.
The firings at the school apparently happened in December.
That’s when parents said they received a letter from an attorney representing the executive director of the school, which explained that former employees withheld passwords for computer systems, and that is part of what is keeping the school from operating.
There is also a lawsuit with the executive director suing his own children, accusing them of trying to take over the operation.
Now, the superintendent is making sure that they work with students and parents to make sure there is room for them.
Parents that need help can call 305-995-3000.
Hernandez would prefer that the school reopen so that at least the children can finish the school year there. She sent an email to the school’s attorney where she wrote, “There is absolutely no reason that a family reason has to affect the education of our children.”
The school and their attorney have not responded to calls from 7News since Monday.
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