Superior Schools seeks reinstatement of Plato Academy management

Clearwater, Fla.(April 22, 2019) – Superior Schools Corp., which has grown Plato Academy from one to nine highly successful Tampa Bay area charter schools over the past 12 years, is suing Plato Academy for wrongful termination of Superior’s management contract.

In the lawsuit, filed April 18 in Pinellas County Circuit Court, Superior Schools states that Plato Academy’s governing board did not properly follow the two organizations’ Charter Agreement on April 15, when Plato sent Superior Schools a seven-day notice of termination letter, citing alleged “incurable breaches” of the Agreement.

To terminate Superior Schools, it must be shown that Superior Schools has materially breached Agreement obligations, and must give Superior Schools at least 60 days to cure any such breaches. The termination letter did not match the terms of the Agreement, because the board terminated Superior without giving the management company a chance to work through or even discuss the issues identified by the board.

The move by Plato Academy’s governing board is not supported by any factual evidence of substandard management. Seven of the nine Plato Academy K-8 schools are “A” rated, with the Largo school a “B” and the Pinellas Park school on track to move from a “D” to a “B” this year. The schools are extremely well-regarded by their 3,382 students and the students’ parents, and another 7,122 students are on waiting lists.

“It was irresponsible of the Plato board to try to terminate the Superior contract in the manner that it did,” said attorney David Luikart of the Hill Ward Henderson law firm, which is representing Superior Schools in the matter. “This decision could jeopardize services to the students, as we are not aware that any transition plan whatsoever is in place.”

With this in mind, Superior Schools also filed a motion for a temporary injunction, which would allow Superior Schools to resume its management duties while the lawsuit is being resolved.

The lawsuit details a number of ways that the situation has created significant issues for the nine tuition-free charter schools in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. It isn’t clear at this point who is providing overall day-to-day management of the schools, and according to the lawsuit, the confusion is hurting Plato Academy in a number of ways:

• Construction has been halted on a new Plato Academy in St. Petersburg, which is planned to house 382 students who are currently taking classes in a church building that’s too small for the high volume of students. Delays could cause the school to miss its deadline for opening at the start of the coming school year.
• Work has also stopped on the completion of the chapel at Plato Academy’s Trinity location, which is required in order to fulfill its contractual obligation to Spirit of Grace church. The addition was promised in exchange for the land that Plato Academy Trinity operates on.
• Plato Academy has hired away a number of Superior’s employees, including key staffers like the academic director, IT director and accountant, and has prevented Superior from accessing IT systems that contain critical information for the management company, which continues to run pre-K at the Plato Academy schools along with programs for before- and after-school care.

“Without Superior, the entire educational system for those 3,382 students will implode,” the lawsuit states. “The Plato Academy Board is a volunteer board of nonprofessional school managers that have provided oversight without any hands-on management during the 12 years that Superior has operated the charter schools.”

Superior Schools was founded by the late Steve Christopoulos of Tarpon Springs, who was Superior’s CEO and the manager of Plato Academy until he passed away June 27, 2018 while on vacation in Costa Rica. The Plato board had expressed a high level of satisfaction with Superior’s performance just five days before Christopoulos’ passing, the lawsuit states. But two days after his death, Superior received a letter from Plato Academy stating its “serious concerns” with Superior’s ability to perform its contractual obligations and indicating that Christopoulos was “the sole reason Plato entered into and continued a long-term business relationship with Superior.”

But Superior has continued its exemplary performance in managing the schools since Christopoulos’ death, the lawsuit states, led by CEO Jenny Tsantilas, evidenced by the schools’ continued excellence, the growth of the Plato Academy system, and high levels of student and parent satisfaction.

The only acceptable remedy for the current situation, the lawsuit states, is to put Superior Schools back in charge of Plato Academy as the lawsuit is resolved. This would allow Superior to resume its normal management duties while moving important projects like the construction projects in St. Petersburg and Trinity forward.

“Our worry is that all involved – from students and parents, to faculty, to government leaders who provide oversight of our charter schools – will lose confidence in Plato Academy if this situation continues,” said CEO Tsantilas. “Our concern is for the children in these schools. They deserve the best in their education, and the actions we are taking are designed to protect their interests.”