Western New York Maritime Charter School

A $2 BILLION DECISION: THE CASE FOR REFORMING NEW YORK’S CHARTER SCHOOL LAW, April 2010, New York State United Teachers report

…Before the Charter School Association went to court to block the State Comptroller from conducting audits and from having oversight authority for how charters spent public funds, the Office of the State Comptroller did complete a handful of charter audits that found:

…Funds were misappropriated at the Western New York Maritime Charter School, including the purchase of big-screen televisions, computer equipment and security devices that were delivered to the homes of school employees. Auditors found the operator’s failure to carefully monitor school activities resulted in the employment of an individual with a criminal record; the misappropriation of school funds; and the awarding of contracts where it was unclear the school received value for the money spent. In addition, the comptroller’s audit found that school officials and employees exploited weaknesses in the internal control system and, as a result, the school paid for $95,000 in goods or services that were either not delivered to the school or were misappropriated after they were delivered…

…An audit which accompanied an investigation by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office found insider dealing as well as widespread theft and misappropriation of funds at the Western New York Maritime Charter School. The audit found payments totaling nearly $134,000 to a maintenance company owned by a former office administrator; $56,000 paid for services not approved by the board or included in any contracts, and which may not have been delivered. In addition, the school bought $24,000 worth of surveillance cameras from a business owned by a school employee, and $85,000 in computer equipment from the same employee, who manipulated the orders so that some of the equipment – including high-definition, big screen televisions and digital cameras – were diverted to his home. In a separate incident, the school paid $68,265 for computer and electronic equipment from a different vendor, but none of the items purchased could be found in the school. 141 Records provided by the Buffalo City Schools show Western New York Maritime Charter School has discharged 23 students so far in the 2009-10 school year, including at least 20 expelled by the principal’s office, out of a student enrollment of approximately 320.

Just six months after the Regents renewed Western New York Maritime’s charter in January 2010, two administrators tampered with students’ answer sheets on Regents’ exams in Geometry and Integrated Algebra. The State Education Department investigation found “serious findings of tampering” with test results, in which charter administrators changed between four and 10 incorrect responses for 21 students to correct answers. The State Education Department invalidated the students’ scores and required them to re-take Regents’ exams, noting, “Due to the tampering which occurred with the answer papers, some students who took the June or August 2009 Regents examinations in Integrated Algebra may not have been correctly identified as in need of academic intervention services in mathematics.” The State Education Department banned two school administrators responsible for the oversight; administration and scoring of the Regents exams from any participation in the Regents testing process until at least January 2012…