Save Windsor Preparatory Academy and East Windsor Middle School

We, the parents, legal guardians, family members, teachers, staff, and concerned citizens of Pinellas County, FL, present this petition to the Pinellas County School Board to recommend that they Vote to Keep our Schools Open.  We request the Vote to issue a 90-day notice of termination of our schools be removed from the agenda, and the schools given an opportunity to prove to the PCSB that they are actively correcting all deficiencies, and need at least one more school year to demonstrate these changes to the PCSB's satisfaction.

Of note, the Executive Board of Directors(BOD) that oversees these three schools has been almost entirely replaced. Of the original five (5) BOD members, only one (1) remains. The four (4) new BOD members include two (2) Windsor Preparatory Academy parents, an Accountant, and a Teacher. This original BOD made the mistake of allowing Newpoint Educational Partners (NEP), a corrupt and possibly criminal business entity, manipulate them by hiding fiscal documents, tampering with inventory, and colluding with related organizations all in the name of financial gain. THAT ERA IS OVER. The New BOD has taken legal action to terminate their management contract with NEP. A 60-day Notice of Termination was sent in April, with a Termination Effective Date of June 22, 2016. On May 11th, 2016, we received confirmation that all of the "debt" owed to NEP has officially been forgiven (Documentation attached).

In the last 60 days (Since March 17th), the New BOD has accomplished the following action items in order to improve the school's financial condition, curriculum issues, and other issues of concern:

March 17th, 2016

• Elected two parents to the board of directors for better representation of the school's needs.


• Conducted teacher surveys to get a clear understanding of issues at school


• Placed job posting for Spanish instructor for Elementary grade levels (to replace current electronic course offering).

March 29th, 2016

• Regained control and received financial reconciliations from Massa Financial


• Sent a notice of termination due to breach of contract to NEP

April 13th, 2016

• Hired new board attorney


• Hired new CPA to do a full financial and operational audit


• Changed locks on school to ensure security of campus


• Added high school courses to 2016-17 school year for middle school


• Filled charter agreement gifted services requirement with teacher on campus

April 27th, 2016

• Established new bank account for FEFP and FTE funds to go to for each school


• Created subcommittees to better address needs of school


• Drafted budget for following school year


• Hired Assistant Principal


• Began to review school and board policies to bring current

May 3rd, 2016

• Sent notice to Pre-K Solutions that verbal agreement would be terminated as of last day of school


• Reviewed proposals from new IT companies


• Sent letter home to students to reconfirm enrollment for next year


• Sent letter to teachers advising of summer pay and letters of intent


• Reviewed new payroll company proposal in preparation for hiring employees under WSI

May 11th, 2016

• Finalized new budget for 2016-17 school year reflecting NO loan debt due to NEP.


• Renegotiated the lease from a per child basis to a flat fee amount.

In direct response to the concerns regarding curriculum - the school IS fulfilling it's agreed upon Charter by offering Spanish through Virtual Instruction. They are in FULL compliance with all Gifted Education needs, with over 2 dozen students that have recently passed the initial Gifted Screening, and 6 recently enrolled in Gifted Classes, plus Gifted pull-out instruction that began on April 15th. We have a robust hands-on project-based curriculum being fielded in the classroom, which is supplemented with the CPALMS program, that gives teachers access to a wide variety of tools aligned with State of Florida's standards. This toolbox gives teachers greater flexibility to meet our students' needs. The teachers have had access to the CPALMS system the ENTIRE school year, as well as Curriculum Maps, and paper textbooks as part of the many resources available to them. All materials are directly aligned with the Instructional Framework that was approved in our Charter Agreement. Parents were notified of the Virtual Spanish program in November 2015, and résumés for a full-time Spanish Instructor are currently being reviewed.

These actions demonstrate that the Windsor Schools and Newpoint Pinellas Academy have implemented a plan of action to correct all issues of concern by the PCS Board. This is More than just a Good Faith Effort - this is Proof Positive that the school is making progress, as demonstrated above, and will continue to do so if given the opportunity by the PCS Board. We respectfully ask the Pinellas County School Board to give our Schools, our Teachers and most importantly, OUR CHILDREN, the opportunity to continue the outstanding work that they are already demonstrating.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. We hope to collaboratively work with the PCSB to keep our Schools Great!

Windsor Families = Windsor STRONG