BRADENTON — Bradenton Preparatory Academy’s leader says the private school will reopen next month despite losing its campus to foreclosure and a multitude of other financial problems.
In a July 12 letter to parents, Hendrik Lamprecht also said the school is negotiating to buy back the 11-acre campus from the lender that foreclosed on it. That was among several claims in the letter designed to soothe anxious parents.
“We will open August 30, 2010 and will survive the derogatory press, IMG pressure and all of those who for whatever reason, find it necessary to attack this prestigious, and academic successful school,” Lamprecht wrote.
Attempts to reach Lamprecht were unsuccessful Tuesday. No school officials were at the former campus at 7900 40th Ave. W. or at a 7700 Cortez Road W. storefront Lamprecht is leasing.
The letter is Lamprecht’s first extensive public comments on Bradenton Prep’s financial problems since he began investing in the school last year.
The school lost its campus earlier this month when GTE Federal Credit Union foreclosed on a $3.68 million judgment against Bradenton Prep owner The Children’s Place Inc. Lamprecht said the school purposely did not contest the foreclosure.
“This was a business decision that we made in order to secure a free and clear title for the school and to start a new chapter in the school’s history,” the letter stated. “Our attorney is now in the process of negotiating the purchase of the facility with the attorneys from the bank.”
The school’s attorney, Edward Vogler II, was out of the country and unavailable for comment Tuesday, his office said. In an e-mail, GTE spokesman Doug Richardson wrote: “We have been asked by Hendrik’s attorney to no longer speak with the media, at least for the moment we will honor that request.”
In his letter, Lamprecht also said “I have every intention of paying our wonderful teaching staff, most of whom are paid.” More than a dozen teachers, or nearly half of the school’s 2009-10 faculty, say the school has not paid them for as long as five months and are threatening to sue.
One of them, Cheryl Gaynor, is skeptical she will be paid. “There have been so many promises made and not kept,” she said. “I feel they’re never going to be kept without going through the law, and even then I’m dubious.”
Lamprecht’s letter also says:
n That the school ”has filed suit against the IRS for violations of proper due process,” a claim that the IRS declined to address and could not be immediately confirmed through a check of state and federal court records. The IRS has filed seven liens, the latest one last week, accusing Children’s Place of not paying more than $1.26 million in payroll taxes since 2007.
n That the school has been newly certified by Accreditation International, which he called a “prestigious international accreditation body.” An official confirmed the accreditation, but said the school still has to undergo a site evaluation. According to Washington Secretary of State records, Accreditation International is a non-profit organization that was incorporated in 2009 and lists Lois Gerber, one of Bradenton Prep’s co-founders, as one of its directors.
“Times have been tough,” Lamprecht also said in the letter. “Many would have given up, but we have a core of faculty and administration that have walked with me through these challenges. My original plan to revitalize the school has suffered some set-backs, but we have adapted our approach and have the necessary financial support to resolve our current issues.”
One parent said the letter has not completely addressed his concerns about the school’s future.
“Will there still be a school? We still don’t know and it (Aug. 30) is just a month away,” said C.J. Czaia, a Bradenton attorney with two daughters who have attended Bradenton Prep. “We’re like in limbo.”
Duane Marsteller, transportation/growth and development reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7080, ext. 2630.
