SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. – A special education school in South Daytona is scrambling to find a new home after its landlord declined to renew its lease, leaving dozens of students and staff in limbo.
Chase Academy, a nonprofit school serving autistic and neurodivergent children and young adults across Volusia County, has operated out of South Daytona Plaza for more than 15 years. With 73 students and 30 staff members depending on the school, founder Miriam Lundell says the sudden displacement couldn’t come at a worse time — and the funds to relocate simply aren’t there.
“We have just sunk tens of thousands of dollars into making this facility what it looks like today and we wouldn’t willingly leave it,” Lundell said.
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Lundell says her team had been preparing to expand at its current location, not uproot entirely. The financial reality of an unplanned move, she says, is far more daunting than a budgeted expansion.
“We haven’t been raising funds for a year to get it customized again. We do have some savings that we planned for the expansion, but an expansion is nothing financially compared to starting over,” Lundell said.
Lundell says she was blindsided when she learned the landlord would not be renewing the school’s lease. Legally, she says, the landlord was not required to provide much more notice. A new company, Pinnacle Leasing and Management Group, took over South Daytona Plaza about two years ago.
“They think, well, one spot is as good as another spot, who cares if you have to get up and move, but when you’re a nonprofit that is an expensive and normally highly planned expedition,” Lundell said.
News 6 reached out to Pinnacle Leasing and Management Group to ask for comment or explanation, but did not receive a response.
Lundell says the disconnect is partly geographic — the new ownership is based out of state and may not fully grasp the school’s role in the community.
“It’s very hard because they’re out of state. They don’t know us, they don’t understand the impact this school has on the county,” Lundell said.
The landlord has allowed Chase Academy to remain through mid-June to finish the school year. But beyond that, Lundell says the school’s future is uncertain.