Florida law enforcement has located the founders of a shuttered Hot Springs microschool and the 11-year-old daughter of one of them, days after the woman's father reported them missing amid a growing financial and regulatory mess back in Arkansas. Donna Witte, her husband Gregory Witte, and Donna's daughter, Remi Johnson, were found safe in the Tampa Bay area, after Donna's father filed a missing persons report with Hot Springs police on August 31.
The family was living at a home in the Tampa Bay suburbs, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Steve Gaskins said Donna Witte was pulled over Thursday morning after a Flock Safety license plate reader flagged her vehicle. Florida Highway Patrol officers and local police then located both Donna and Gregory Witte in Tarpon Springs, while Florida agencies located all three members of the Witte family in Pasco County. A Tarpon Springs police officer confirmed everything was okay with Donna Witte, and florida law enforcement determined all parties checked out fine. Gaskins said there is no longer any search for Witte, and the family has since been removed from the missing persons database.
Tony Brummett, Donna Witte's father, had reported his daughter and granddaughter missing the day after a state repayment deadline expired. Brummett had texted Donna Witte on August 28 about Dolly Parton's death, but was unable to reach her or Remi afterward, and efforts to reach the Wittes by phone were unsuccessful Friday. A Hot Springs police officer who checked on the family's former address found 802 Emory Street completely empty, and florida law enforcement later conducted a welfare check at the Wittes' home in Holiday, Florida.
A School That Vanished Weeks Before Fall Classes
Nova Roots Academy, described as an inclusive microschool for neurodivergent and experiential learners, was housed at 802 Emory St. in Hot Springs and had enrolled 56 students for summer programming or the 2026-27 school year. The school was scheduled to start fall classes on August 20, but Donna and Gregory Witte told families in late July that Nova Roots Academy was closing, and the school shut down without warning that same month.
A Hot Springs police report alleged that Donna and Gregory Witte opened a school and stole people's money, according to the report dated August 15. Landlord Marty Coco evicted the Wittes in July for not paying rent, and the couple owed Coco $24,000, per the report cited by the Democrat-Gazette. Coco also found that Donna and Gregory Witte had left chickens and geese in a coop at the property, and some of the birds were dead by the time he visited.
State Voucher Money at the Center of the Dispute
Nova Roots Academy was eligible for Arkansas' Educational Freedom Account program, which provides taxpayer money for private school tuition and certain homeschooling expenses. The Educational Freedom Account program paid for summer classes for at least some Nova Roots families, but the Arkansas Department of Education said the Wittes owed $5,650 for two summer classes Nova Roots did not provide, according to agency spokesperson Kaelin Clay. Under the 2023 LEARNS Act signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the state classifies microschools like Nova Roots as tuition-based organizations serving homeschool students rather than private schools, according to MAGA Report Cards, a classification that exempts them from routine state inspections despite their receipt of public voucher funds. For the current school year, the state's Educational Freedom Account program provides $6,864 per student for approved expenses, with more than 46,000 students participating statewide, per EdChoice.
After Nova Roots failed to meet an August 20 repayment deadline, the Arkansas Department of Education referred the $5,650 debt to collections and law enforcement to recover the unspent voucher funds, according to THV11. State records show Donna Witte emailed the department on August 8 disputing $2,250 of the reimbursement demand, claiming spring and summer courses had been delivered, but the agency rejected her claim when she failed to provide documentation. Parents told the station that the summer program had actually run for only three weeks rather than the full term.
Unpaid Teachers and Families Left Scrambling
Nova Roots Academy left former staff members without paychecks for nearly a month before its abrupt closure in late July, and the station's report notes that co-founder Greg Witte had assured staff shortly before operations ceased that finances were handled. The sudden collapse forced more than 40 families of special-needs children in Hot Springs to scramble for last-minute educational placements and therapy providers right before the start of the school year, with independent local vendors later stepping in to offer therapy directly to displaced families. Many parents had enrolled after seeing sponsored Facebook ads for special-needs education, per the same account.
Donna Witte's longtime friend said she began acting differently after meeting Gregory online, according to the Democrat-Gazette. Donna Witte has said Gregory Witte had a panic attack before the family moved to Florida. Nova Roots Academy is a Hot Springs microschool, and Donna Witte and Gregory Witte founded it before the operation's finances and staffing unraveled in the weeks leading up to its closure.
