About 50 children expected to return to Aventura Learning Center Tuesday NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The owners of a South Florida school told Local 10 News on Tuesday that the city of North Miami Beach forced them to shut down because of confusion about how their business was classified. The facility operates as a private elementary school, but it’s primarily a daycare. Daycares in Florida are considered essential businesses and are allowed to remain open, but schools have been forced to close. The confusion has since been cleared up and now the doors are open with staff members on hand ready to receive parents dropping off their children. Aventura Learning Center serves between 200 and 300 children ranging from infancy to fifth grade, but fewer than 50 kids are estimated to be returning Tuesday. The facility has been shut down since March 13. When the owners announced they were planning to reopen Monday, code enforcement showed up to stop them, the owners told Local 10 News. The owners said they had a conversation with the city and both sides agreed that the school portion of the facility would remain closed, but the daycare center would be allowed to reopen. When the crisis first broke out, many parents were too afraid to take their kids to the daycare, but in recent weeks, the demand for child care services has increased, the owners said. “We are happy to be open,” Aventura Learning Center owner and Director Eileen Otero said. “It’s been a process, but we were able to come in agreement with the city, and for them to see that our services are needed for essential families that depend on us and also, in addition to the families we have in our schools.” Normally it could cost several hundred dollars […]
