- Both The Frazer School and NCCS must submit purchase and sale agreements by Oct. 21, or the court may impose a constructive trust to transfer the property title to the school.
- A bankruptcy judge indicated that The Frazer School, an independent K-12 school, should own its campus building at 4700 SW 89th Blvd.
- The Frazer School filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect loans and secure ownership of its Gainesville campus building.
At a hearing on Sept. 15, a federal bankruptcy judge indicated that The Frazer School, an independent K-12 school, should own its campus building at 4700 SW 89th Blvd. in Gainesville, rather than its former owner. School officials also say the judge continued a preliminary injunction and extended the closing deadline related to the building.
The Frazer School and Newberry Christian Community School (NCCS) Inc., a Florida nonprofit corporation, have been involved in a legal battle over ownership of the building.
In May, NCCS filed a complaint in the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Alachua County seeking to evict The Frazer School from the building over alleged unpaid rent and mortgage payments.
A contract for the building, also known as the Hudson Building, was signed in November 2024 by then-Frazer School owner James Schrader, with the school planning to expand from its original building at 1520 NW 34th St. in Gainesville, formerly Cornerstone Academy.
Schrader is also listed as the registered agent for NCCS on Sunbiz.org.
In June, The Frazer School filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in what school officials said at the time was the ideal route to protect loans made by parents and supporters of The Frazer School, secure ownership of the school’s facility and protect the future of the institution.
Several days before the school filed for bankruptcy, attorneys representing The Frazer School sent a civil theft demand letter to Schrader, his wife, Rachel Schrader, and NCCS, requesting the return of over $5 million. The letter alleged that the $5,045,000 raised from parents and other benefactors to help purchase the school’s building was moved to accounts controlled by the Schraders and NCCS and that they used it toward the purchase of the building in NCCS’s name and then charged The Frazer School rent.
James Schrader previously told Mainstreet that he and Rachel disputed the allegations of theft, calling them “outrageous and false.”
The Frazer School’s bankruptcy triggered an automatic stay that halted the state-court eviction lawsuit filed by NCCS. In July, the bankruptcy court granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily protected the school’s claimed rights to the building while proceedings continued.
Following the Sept. 15 hearing, a Frazer School press release said the court reiterated that the injunction “continues in full effect” and that it could expand it at the next hearing on Oct. 21, if necessary.
Based on the Sept. 15 hearing, the release said the court will also “enforce the transition agreement” between NCCS and The Frazer School regarding the potential transfer of the Hudson Building. The release said the court would either oversee an agreement transferring the building to the school or “impose a constructive trust” if both parties failed to come to an agreement.
The Gainesville Sun reported that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen K. Specie of the Northern District of Florida gave attorneys for The Frazer School, James Schrader and NCCS “10 days to submit proposed purchase and sale agreements transferring the title.”
The release stated that if the parties can’t “agree on the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Court will draft one itself and can order NCCS to execute a deed transferring the property or impose a constructing or resulting trust.”
The release said the court signaled it was leaning toward imposing a trust, stating, “There is no question that the money came from The Frazer School,” and “The building needs to belong to The Frazer School.”
In an interview with Mainstreet on Tuesday, Steve Berman, of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, which is representing The Frazer School on a pro bono basis, said he was finalizing The Frazer School’s purchase and sale agreement and that it would be submitted to the court on Friday.
Berman said NCCS has the same deadline as The Frazer School for getting a purchase and sale agreement submitted to the court.
In an email reply to Mainstreet on Wednesday, Michael Moody, outside counsel for the Schraders and NCCS, said the organization would also be submitting its purchase and sale agreement to the court by Friday.
“The Court heard testimony on September 15 and directed each side to submit a proposed purchase and sale agreement, and both are due this week,” Moody wrote. “This is a business dispute about a real estate closing. NCCS will submit its proposal on Friday and will review The Frazer School’s when we receive it.”
Also, during the Sept. 15 hearing, the release said the court “extended the closing deadline” regarding the potential transfer of the Hudson, “finding it would be ‘pretty impossible’ for the school to complete financing under the original deadline …”
Berman said in the email reply to Mainstreet on Wednesday that the court addressed the December 2025 school transition and asset purchase agreement, which, among other things, transferred control of the school to an unpaid, three-person board that included The Frazer School’s founder, Will Frazer.
Berman said the agreement does not require The Frazer School to refinance the property, but it does grant the school a one-year window to do so if it chooses.
“The Court indicated it would extend the time to refinance beyond the December, 2026 date, if we chose to refinance,” Berman wrote. “I suspect the Court will require a transfer of title well in advance of December 2026. I am hopeful the title issues will be fully resolved by the October 21 hearing date.”
Moody told Mainstreet that the court “has entered no order on any of the matters argued” on Sept. 15.
“No order has extended a deadline, directed a transfer of the building, or imposed a trust of any kind,” he wrote.
According to court documents, the Oct. 21 hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse in Tallahassee.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.