State pulls scholarships from private school after owner's arrest on sexual battery charges

[Baitball Blogger]

The Department of Education on Thursday revoked scholarships from a small Kissimmee private school just three months after it opened because its 20-year-old owner was arrested on charges of sexual battery on a 12-year-old former student at another school.

The department said it was pulling Grace Excellence Academy’s scholarships — which are for children with special needs or those from low-income families — after the Orlando Sentinel reported Domynik Lewis’ Nov. 1 arrest.

Domynik Lewis opened Grace Excellence with his mother, Adrienne Lewis, as its principal in August, five months after the department of education told another private school, Esther’s School of Kissimmee — where both Lewises worked — that Adrienne Lewis did not pass a criminal background screening. It ordered the school to terminate her if it wanted to continue getting state scholarships, according to department records, but the school said she had already left in January.

A department spokeswoman said state law requires the department to perform background screenings of the owner of new schools — in this case, Domynik Lewis, who had no criminal record at the time — and not principals, which is why Adrienne Lewis wasn’t flagged when opening Grace Excellence.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-grace-excellence-vouchers-revoked-20171116-story.html