PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) — A public charter school in Florida has parents outraged after bad behavior landed the entire 7th grade class on a punishment schedule "in a controlled environment."
Warrington Preparatory Academy, with students in 6th to 8th grades, blames multiple incidents of misconduct including fighting and vandalism.
Officials with the school said they put the grade on "modified schedule" after several students intentionally flooded a bathroom, destroying seven classrooms.
They added, "It's not just the flooding situation. The kids are out of control."
The school put all elective classes on hold. For now, students are being kept in their classrooms, given two scheduled bathroom breaks, and they aren't getting any hot lunches or juice — just grab-and-go lunches inside the classroom.
Parents are outraged over the collective punishment.
They don't let them leave to go to gym, recess, art, music. They can't leave for anything. They're denied access to the clinic," Jacquie Sailor claimed.
Sailor said her son and others are being wrongly punished for things they didn't do.
My questions are 'How is it fair to punish the children that weren't involved in this? How is it fair to treat these children like inmates?' Even the jailed prisoners, rapists, and murderers get an hour outside and a hot meal. I don't understand how it's OK to treat people's children this way," she said.
Sailor sent a letter to the school on Tuesday, outlining her issues and essentially asks why the students are being treated this way. She says she has not received a response.
Another mother who wished to remain anonymous said she was disappointed in the way things have panned out.
I'm disgusted. This is not what they promised us, coming into our community. You know that these kids are only using the restroom twice a day. You know they're not getting fed properly. You know they're not getting the proper instruction, and nobody is saying anything," the anonymous parent said. "Charter Schools USA is quite literally worse than what we dealt with at Warrington at its worst."
Still, school officials insist they're doing the right thing, and the behavior is "improving dramatically because their freedoms are being taken away."
Charter Schools USA provided a written statement on Wednesday afternoon:
"We are having a behavioral reset in seventh grade. There have been multiple incidents of bad behavior including flooding bathrooms, disrespectful behavior toward other students and teachers, graffiti, pushing and shoving, etc. Although these behaviors may have been permitted or overlooked in the past, they are not permitted or tolerated in the new Warrington Prep culture. Our goal is to improve the academic experience for all students and the best way we can do that is to address what we can control, which is the learning environment. We’ve modified the schedule so that all core classes remain in one classroom for the day instead of changing classes. This will be evaluated on an ongoing basis and class changes will be reinitiated when students can prove they are ready. While students can get hall passes for emergency trips to the bathrooms or nurse’s office, they remain in a controlled environment for the rest of the day. Any students in advanced classes are permitted to go to those classes. All students are given a grab-and-go lunch which changes daily. All electives are on hold.
"So far, the modified schedule is working well. There have been no reported incidents since it started. As students continue to prove that they can behave responsibly, privileges such as going to the lunch room and attending electives will be restored. We’ve also heard from the teachers that they are now able to teach — which ultimately is the goal. We are building strong minds and good hearts. We have to build both in order to be successful. Our students will not only be smart; they will be responsible citizens who will make a positive impact on the future. That has to start here. We strongly encourage parents to volunteer at the school and in the classrooms. We knew this would be the hardest part and we were ready for it."
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