Hillsborough School Board votes to close Walton Academy due to safety, security concerns

Charter school closed due to security

The Hillsborough County School District voted on Tuesday to shut down Walton Academy, also known as The Walton Academy for Performing Arts, due to safety and security issues.?

TAMPA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County School District voted on Tuesday to shut down Walton Academy, also known as The Walton Academy for Performing Arts, due to safety and security issues. 

What we know:

On Friday, the district said their security team visited the school along North Florida Avenue and found several deficiencies. 

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The district's chief of security said the team found the gate was not locked when they arrived and there was a large hole in it, one that an adult man could walk through. 

One big focus was that hard corners were not marked. Those are designated safe zones within a classroom where kids can gather for safety during an active threat. 

The recommendations came after the deadly Parkland school shooting in February 2018. 

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The district said the school had several opportunities to fix the issues and didn't. 

Chief John Newman said, "those hard corner indications we provide might seem minor, but I submit to you that the fourteen students killed in Parkland would argue with you." 

The other side:

However, parents urged district leaders to keep it open. 

"The school was built out of love, opportunity and purpose for kids to have opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom," Fred Tomlin, Jr. explained. "Through dance, music and technology, students don't just learn facts, they discover who they are." 

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What's next:

The school and parents have an opportunity to respond to the decision and appeal it. There will be a hearing, but it wasn't scheduled yet. 

Students that are impacted will be able to move to other performing arts schools, can go to the one neighborhood school, or four other elementary schools nearby.