OCALA, Fla. — A charter school in Marion County abruptly closed its doors for good, blaming its circumstance on a lack of money.
Marion Military Academy students were supposed to return their uniforms Tuesday, but instead they decided to rally in hopes that their school could be saved.
Here’s what you should know about the closure:
1. Marion Military Academy was started 8 years ago.
2. School officials say too few students enrolled in the charter school in order to get the state funding necessary to operate.
3. Students will need to enroll in the Marion County Public Schools system unless they choose another school.
4. School officials say they need at least $200,000 to get back to normal, and a half million to operate until the end of the year.
5. Students have started a GoFundMe page to try and collect a million dollars.
The students say they don't want to give up, so they say they will continue to drill in front of the school every day in the hopes that somehow the school will collect enough donations to keep it running.
On Wednesday night, the Marion County School District gave parents and students a short deadline of two days to decide where they would go to school in January.
The school district said they had only 24 hours to cobble together choices for the students.
Some of the options given include going to the closest public school or home schooling.
“It scares me," said student Samuel Six. "For the last couple days I have been really scared what school I am going to go to, because honestly this is the only school that I have known."
Many parents and students also say this will be a big inconvenience travel wise. One student said the Marion Military Academy was only about 10 minutes away from his house, the new school might be 30 minutes or longer.
The superintendent of schools says the students will start at their new school on January 7.