The Orange County school system is investigating a charter school that wrongly threatened to dismiss students for failing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, or FCAT.
Cornerstone Charter Academy retracted the threat Oct. 31, blaming a “poorly written letter” from the principal to parents. In an Oct. 28 letter, Principal Renee Pancoast wrote that students would risk losing their seats if they failed to perform.
The charter is run by the Miami-based school-management firm Academica, which manages more than three dozen charter schools in South Florida and has ties to top state lawmakers.
