- The Frazer School filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Florida to address $5 million financial issues linked to former owner James Schrader.
- The school plans to continue operations in 2026-2027 and convert to a nonprofit under a new three-person board after Schrader's resignation.
The Frazer School filed for bankruptcy on Friday in what school officials describe as a joint effort by leadership to address financial issues attributed to the school’s former owner, James Schrader, who is no longer associated with the institution.
According to a Friday press release, The Frazer School, an independent K-12 school in Gainesville, “filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida.”
School leaders said that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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.
”Chapter 11 [bankruptcy] will be a good thing for our school,’’ said Will Frazer, co-founder of The Frazer School, in the release. “It allows us to continue operating without the threat of the problems Mr. Schrader created. I have not felt this good about our future since the beginning of the last school year.”
The press release came just several days after attorneys representing The Frazer School sent a civil theft demand letter to Schrader, his wife, Rachel Schrader, as well as their company, Newberry Christian Community School Inc. (NCCS), on Tuesday, requesting over $5 million.
According to the demand letter, The Frazer School raised more than $5 million from parents and other benefactors to help purchase the school’s building, but that money was instead moved to accounts controlled by the Schraders and NCCS. According to the letter, the Schraders and NCCS used the funds – $5,045,000 – to buy The Frazer School facility, placing the title in NCCS’s name, and then charged The Frazer School rent.
The release said James Schrader resigned as owner of the school in December 2025 and agreed to switch all holdings back to The Frazer School. However, the release states that he has not done this.
“The fiduciary responsibilities entrusted to Mr. Schrader were violated by his actions of putting greed ahead of our students,” Frazer said in the release. “We work tirelessly to provide a stellar education and steward trust within our community. Mr. Schrader’s actions do not reflect the culture or mission of our school, and we look forward to the Bankruptcy Court’s assistance in resolving this matter so we can move forward and fulfill our promise to our students, families, staff, and fiscal partners.”
Following James Schrader’s resignation, control of The Frazer School was transferred to an unpaid, three-person board. School officials said the board – consisting of Frazer, Olanrewaju Fayiga, principal of The Frazer School, and Max Dolinsky, also a finance professor at UF, has been working to resolve financial issues and plans to convert the school into a nonprofit.
After a meeting with parents in December 2025, Frazer told Mainstreet that becoming a nonprofit is a dream he and others have shared for a long time.
The Frazer School said it is committed to continuing operations for the 2026-2027 school year without disruption to educational services, employee pay or daily routines.
Steven Berman, pro-bono counsel for The Frazer School, shared what he believes the legal process will show.
“We are confident that the judicial process will demonstrate that the Schraders and NCCS took from both The Frazer School and its parents and will restore property and other economic rights they attempted to take from the school community,” Berman said in the release. “Fraudsters will be held accountable irrespective of who they are or their professed religious affiliation. These matters are now in the Bankruptcy Court’s capable hands, which will enforce the school’s legal rights.”
Berman added that the case does not jeopardize The Frazer School or its investors. Rather, he said it “provides a mechanism to ensure the school’s property rights are restored and operational success.”
In an interview with Mainstreet on Monday, James said he and Rachel “dispute the allegations of theft” and will be pursuing defamation against Frazer.
“These allegations are outrageous and false,” James said.
He added that they, too, have a story to tell.
“He [Frazer] is only telling half of it,” James said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Olanrewaju Fayiga is not a finance professor at the University of Florida but is the principal of The Frazer School.
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.
Nick Anschultz – As a local who recommended two students to Frazier (admittedly a fantasic school) I am nevertheless more than disappointed with what has transpired. I’m probably the ONLY reader that doesn’t know the answers but here goes in the event you do a follow-up: How was it that the original Board (to include Will Frazer and Olanrewaju Fayiga) didn’t sound the alarm bells loudly long ago? Did they not know about the transfers? Q: What other organizations / entities are Mr. Mrs Shrader involved in locally (I suspect these two are con artists that didn’t stop with just Frazier)? Has an independent certified auditor come in to do a thorough review of the books?
Was there a finance director? Were there auditors? Were accounting principles followed? Lots of questions.
After a decade of watching the systematic destruction of free, accessible, public education by the State of Florida through its biased voucher system, Frazer School is one more example of how I’ve come to view most private schools. When tasked with educating our children, these private schools MUST be held to the same rigorous evaluation as our public schools, BUT I NEVER see that happening–and I’ve now lived in two states that tout vouchers as the answer to quality education (they aren’t).
Nevertheless those very schools systematically deplete funding that should be reserved for sustaining and improving our public school system. We are talking about taxpayer money–which includes MY tax contribution–money that should only be available to strengthen, not weaken, public education. If people want private schools, they can pay for those schools and not use my tax money to support institutions that have not proven their value and often seem to represent one-sided viewpoints on every issue.
The result has been a persistent, precipitous whittling away of an informed public–a thoughtful and open-minded public that has always represented the bedrock of the America I know and love.