TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Leaders at BLI Community Schools in Pinellas County say parent demand helped them grow into a private school with three campuses.
They say this school year is off to a strong start.
But delays in state funding and the impact of inflation are making it harder for the school to operate.
Georgia Griffin’s daughter Mikayla’s excitement for school is something Georgia hadn’t seen until her enrollment at BLI Community School.
“It’s really nice because they’re really kind. On trying to kind of meet her where she is, because some days are a little harder than others, and they really help her,” Griffin mentioned.
It’s because of students like Mikayla and her siblings that founder, Leah Veal, left teaching in public schools to start her own mobile tutoring business. That business has transformed into three micro-schools in Pinellas County.
“They’re able to work one on one with experienced teachers and really get that instruction that many are missing in larger classrooms,” she explained.
Veal says the organization is missing a consistent cash flow, though. She explains that the majority of their students are able to afford BLI Community School through the state of Florida’s Step Up for Student Scholarships, but they are experiencing delays in getting that funding.
“Timely payments are critical to smooth operations because we don’t charge anything on top of the scholarships that are provided. We take that at face value. So we don’t want to pass that burden on to the family,” Veal added.
Spectrum Bay News 9 reached out to the Step Up Scholarship organization that provides funding to BLI Community Schools, they said in part:
“All students eligible for scholarship funding at BLI were paid in accordance with statutory and program requirements. There are several factors that can affect the timing of scholarship payments, including enrollment timing and even parent approval. Schools are made aware of the payment schedule and the need to get parents to approve funding.”
In response to BLI Community School’s concerns about receiving scholarship money on time, Step Up for Students says that about a dozen students have not received payments due to transferring, late enrollment or delays with parents approving enrollment in their system.
In a statement, they said, “Schools are paid quarterly. On average, Step Up pays within 2 days from when the parent approves the tuition payment.”
“I wouldn’t know that they’re strained financially or anything like that because it’s not made aware to the parents. But as a teacher, as the lead teacher in school community coordinator, I’m very much aware of those situations, and I just want to make sure that the biggest thing is transportation. That’s the biggest gap for us right now financially,” explained Lead Teacher Asia DaCosta.
Another financial strain on the school comes with getting the students to school. DaCosta is working outside of school hours to fundraise for their transportation initiative.
“We normally would have like a 15-passenger van for the beginning of the school year. We had a school bus with the previous company,” she added.
Seeing students like Jaysen Grullon blossom is what keeps the teachers going. Jaysen says he now reads for fun.
“I feel like I learn more here than at my public schools,” he said.
School leaders hope members of the community will see the value they provide, and a little assistance would help ensure students can get to and from all three of their schools.
Adding donations to their transportation initiative will not only help current students, it would also help others get off the waitlist.