A teacher denied that anything happened. Cape Coral police investigated and recommended misdemeanor charges, but the Florida state attorney s office declined to pursue the case. St. Charles then joined a group of five other parents. But they are charges that appall the majority of parents at the schools, who point out that even the hyperbolic accusations are small in number compared with the nearly 1,000 children now enrolled in the nine schools, and especially compared to the thousands who have passed through their doors during the 14 years of Grace schools existence. In his defense, McIntyre points out that if parents are dissatisfied they can withdraw students at any time.
Parents can vote with their feet.
They pay by the week and can withdraw at any time, and there are plenty of other places to go. Most want Grace Community Schools to accept the same state regulations that the majority of religious private day cares and schools in Florida accept, even though they are not required to do so. But he says no, fearful that state regulation might lead to a dumbing down of the curriculum that has his children reading by the age of 3, and fearful, too, that state control eventually might mean that the religious side of Grace Community Schools would come under scrutiny. After all, he points out, religion has been taken out of the public schools. Existing laws allow Florida officials to interrogate teachers and others in private schools as well as public schools, McIntyre points out.