PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Teachers: Bradenton Prep bounced paychecks

BRADENTON — Teachers at Bradenton Preparatory Academy say they have been getting paychecks only sporadically for months and are owed thousands of dollars in back pay.

Some have received checks that have bounced or payment was stopped, they told the Herald. Officials at the school, which is facing foreclosure, also have deducted premiums from the checks for health insurance coverage they no longer have, employees say.

Some employees say they have finally stopped reporting for work until they are paid overdue wages.

“It’s not a good environment,” said Erin Geraghty-Balent, a high school English and health teacher who has refused to work since Monday because she is owed about $6,500. “The teachers are so stressed, thinking of unpaid bills and their family. How can they concentrate?”

School officials referred all questions about the school’s financial health to Bradenton Prep’s attorney, Edward Vogler II, who acknowledged the payroll problems but said the school is close to resolving its financial issues through new majority owner Hendrik Lamprecht.

“I know there have been cash-flow problems, and this is the result of that,” Vogler said. “I’m working on getting the capital infusion. Once we have that, all of the creditors will be attended to. There are a lot of them, including teachers.”

Geraghty-Balent and another teacher, Holly Thompson, say they and other school employees are owed three to five paychecks each.

Thompson, 39, teaches elementary art and is the school lunch program coordinator. She stopped going to work Jan. 26 because the school owes her five paychecks totaling nearly $7,000.

“I did not want to leave the kids, but what else could I do?” said Thompson, who was in her sixth year at the school.

Geraghty-Balent, who was in her third year of teaching at Bradenton Prep, said she “couldn’t will myself to go in anymore,” saying the financial problems have hurt employee morale and health.

“On a regular basis I saw people crying, some grinding their teeth. Many were constantly sick,” said Geraghty-Balent, 25. “Even if they fake a smile, people can tell. The students know what’s going on. I had one student ask me if I was going to go on strike because I wasn’t being paid.”

Outstanding liens from IRS

The employee complaints are the latest financial troubles for the private school, which has an estimated 400 students in grades K-12 and about 35 teachers among its 50 employees.

The Internal Revenue Service has three outstanding tax liens against the school’s owner, The Children’s Place Inc., for more than $921,000 in unpaid federal unemployment and payroll taxes. Two lenders are seeking to foreclose on the school property at 7900 40th Ave. W., saying Children’s Place has defaulted on more than $5.7 million in loans.

Last week, GMAC repossessed a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe leased to Bradenton Prep, contending the school has missed lease payments since Aug. 26 and owes nearly $42,300, court records show.