Windsor Prep Academy Ruined our Neighborhood...and is an "F" School.

  Windsor Prep Academy is a charter school, in Lealman ( near St. Petersburg) Florida, and is located smack dab in the middle of a small neighborhood. My neighborhood. They purchased the property, which had previously been a very small private school, of less than 200 students, three years ago.

  When the "F" school- Windsor Prep- started, they had a small enrollment of 175 elementary students. Traffic didn't impact our neighborhood all that badly. It got a little bogged down, but only for a few minutes each morning and afternoon.  

  Now, over 400 vehicles, not counting staff, neighbors, or construction vehicles come through every morning and afternoon, blocking our driveways, parking in our yards, causing property damage, and of course the traffic back up for just over an hour in the mornings,  and for around an hour and a half in the afternoons.

   This neighborhood is made of up of three small dead end, and two small side roads. There is one way in essentially, and one way out. 

   They knew that when they bought the property, and when they began their plans to expand their charter and expand enrollment to include the  Middle School: East Windsor Academy.

  So ultimately it is two schools that now operate on the property.

  Knowing, and despite this neighborhood's limitations, and without any consultation, or impact study having been done by Pinellas County to see how the neighborhood residents felt, the school has forged ahead with the expansion, constructed a 41,000 square foot, 2 story monstrosity of a building, and have an anticipated enrollment of 1000 students within a year or two.

   The current enrollment as of September 2014 is approx. 580 plus the 65 kids they are housing off campus awaiting completion of the new building. And who knows if they have more than that waiting in the wings, but more are definitely coming. 

   This blog is to document what this mess of an "F" School has put our neighborhood through. I will be linking the news articles, issues my neighbors have dealt with, my experiences, pictures, and links to videos. I will also try and dig into exactly who in involved in/with this school. I may even expand into the whole issue of shady charter school dealings, as our experiences with this school has been rather like being shaken down by a gang or the mafia taking over communities. You accept, do it their way, or pay the price.

******And remember, charter schools are funded by our tax dollars, yet local school boards have nearly no authority over them, and the property and equipment they acquire is theirs to keep, even if they fail, which an alarming number do. More on that to come as well.