Students Banned From Certain Derita Businesses

Charlotte Mecklenburg School System provided Derita area businesses with signs, banning students. It is an effort to reach out to the community. WSOC-TV Derita Business Soliciting

Some of local businesses say that students from the Derita Alternative School are a problem.

"There is a lot of business here, I think the students here are a nuisance to the other businesses," said John Polilli.

Polilli has worked across the street, at Beamers, for the last five years. He says the school system reacts immediately when there is a problem.

Moniqu Hamel works at a nearby store, agrees. He says when there is a problem, the school system is on top of it.

"If there is ever a problem, all we have to do is call and it's taken care of immediately," he said.

The owner of the Chevron Food Mart in Derita complained that groups of four or five students come in from the Derita Alternative School and steal from him. VIDEO: Some Derita Businesses Want Students To Stay Out

He also says they hang out in his parking lot and cause trouble for some of his customers.

Helen Byrd owns the Derita Soda Shoppe next door.

"Some of them feel like they've been stolen from. Like this little convenience store next door to me feels like they've been stolen from," she said.

Hamel said the school gets singled out and that attitudes are the problem, not the students.