Orange Park School To Close

By Ryan Duffy First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Suzanne Jinks and 25 of her fellow teachers at Orange Park Christian Academy are looking for new jobs.

"We were told if we didn't have a miracle which is what we're praying for, the school is closing in 30 days. So the staff was shocked," said Jinks.

And the 100 students at the school now need to find a new place to enroll for the second half of the school year. "Their whole lives are uprooted right now, they've been in this school a long time, don't want to go anywhere, their parents love the school so we are just praying God will give us a miracle," says Jinks.

Jinks tells First Coast News the announcement the school will close on January 15th came without warning.

In a statement from Pastor Armand Egnew he says, "Unfortunately years of financial hardship have caught up with the academy forcing us to make a very hard decision."

Egnew is pastor of Orange Park Assembly Of God, the schools parent church.

The church will remain open.

Egnew also says the school will do everything possible to help teachers and students relocate.

"It's devastating for all of us, not only financially for us personally, also the school, it's heartbreaking," says Jinks.

School administrators will meet with parents and teachers tomorrow night, December 27, at the school at 7 to answer questions.

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