tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71919887597153479622024-02-21T04:11:20.237-08:00CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALSA compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.comBlogger773125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-80156712549589978352016-07-16T09:36:00.004-07:002016-07-16T09:42:10.578-07:00<a class="twitter-timeline" data-width="500" data-height="900" href="https://twitter.com/sharonoak">Tweets by sharonoak</a> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-13179812818499638572013-09-12T15:15:00.001-07:002013-09-12T15:17:51.946-07:00Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blog.nj.com/njv_barry_carter/2013/06/newark_charter_school_closes_a.html"><b>“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must move on.”</b></a> The
Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the handwriting on the wall last year
with the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School in Newark when federal officials
filed a lawsuit against the school...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The embattled charter school, opened in 2007 by longtime activist
Fredrica Bey, had been on probation for more than a year. The school is also
facing a complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s office which contends Bey took
$345,325 in federal grant money earmarked for programs to keep
"at-risk" youths off of the streets and instead used it used it to
pay bills for the Women In Support of the Million Man March, a non-profit
community group she started in 1995.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The state also expressed concerns about the conflicts of interest
between the school’s leadership and the school’s agreement to lease space from
WISOMMM...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/newark_charter_school_sanford.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/newark_charter_school_sanford.html"><b>“Special report: Born in hope, Newarkcharter school now embroiled in controversy.” </b></a>The Star-Ledger (NJ), 5/5/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEWARK</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> — Linda Newton
enrolled her 8-year-old son at Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School to shield him
from the ills that afflict many of Newark’s
regular public schools.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She has regretted that decision every day since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Last summer, nearly all of the troubled school’s two dozen teachers
resigned, and students were hastily relocated to a downtown building that
parents say is not equipped for their children. Some students climb five
flights of stairs to reach their classrooms in the hulking former church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Other kids have no classrooms at all, sharing space in a vast
multipurpose room where academic instruction is often interrupted by the
clapping and stomping of a dance class some 50 feet away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Parents and teachers complain of a shortage of textbooks, an
insufficient heating system and a lack of discipline for rowdy students,
leading to fights and bullying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At least half of the 339 kids enrolled on the first day of school have
left, though some have been replaced with new recruits, the parents and
teachers said. Test scores are among the bottom 10 percent in the state...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But a Star-Ledger examination of the school and its leadership reveals a
faltering institution that provides bare-bones learning facilities while using
millions of dollars in state and federal aid, bolstering a real estate fiefdom
controlled by the school’s founder, Fredrica Bey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A fiery community activist with political pull, Bey has come under
intense scrutiny by both the state Department of Education and the U.S. Justice
Department, which accuses her of fraud in a civil suit. That case, unrelated to
Adelaide Sanford, is expected to come to trial later this year, barring a
last-minute settlement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Star-Ledger review found that school officials — including Bey’s
daughter and longtime friends — approved hugely inflated rental payments to
Women in Support of the Million Man March, a community group Bey founded, for
space the school doesn’t use. An attorney who specializes in nonprofit law said
the arrangement smacks of a "sham transaction."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the same time, investigators with the state Education Department
determined Bey may have broken the law by using a possibly invalid school lease
as the bedrock document to obtain an $8.27 million loan. The investigators
recommended that the Division of Criminal Justice look into the matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The newspaper’s examination — encompassing court records, Education
Department reports, financial documents and dozens of interviews — also found a
pattern of recalcitrance by Bey and school officials, who repeatedly ignored
state directives, according to documents obtained under the Open Public Records
Act.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In particular, the state has accused Adelaide Sanford for more than a
year of refusing to comply with regulations, turn over records or eliminate
clear conflicts of interest, chiefly the dual roles Bey held as executive
director of both the school and her group, known in the community by its
acronym, WISOMMM...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Revered by some and feared by others, Bey, 68, has built a reputation as
a powerful figure in New Jersey’s
largest city, with friends in political, cultural and activist circles, along
with a direct line to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But she has also periodically drawn scrutiny from law enforcement
officials investigating allegations of fraud. Most recently, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office last year sued Bey and WISOMMM, alleging violations of the
False Claims Act...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-30477531168344045312013-09-12T15:11:00.000-07:002013-09-12T15:11:32.011-07:00Atlanta Preparatory Academy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/atlanta-school-board-considers-own-police-force/nTwzc/"><b>“Atlanta school board considers own police force.”</b></a> Atlanta
Journal-Constitution (GA), 1/14/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“... The board on Monday also decided the fate of Atlanta
Preparatory Academy,
voting 8-1 (Byron Amos dissenting) to follow Davis’ recommendation not to renew the
charter of the school. APS executive director of innovation Allen Mueller told
the board the school has underperformed academically and has financial
problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to Mueller, the K-8 school with about 450 students ranks in
the bottom 20 percent of schools statewide in academic performance; its
enrollment is 45 percent lower than originally projected; and it owes $801,384
to for-profit education management company Mosaica Education, Inc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Atlanta Prep board members and Mosaica co-founder and president Gene
Eidelman said afterward the school will take its case to the state charter
commission, which was approved by voters last November in part to consider
charter proposals rejected by local school boards...”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=====================================================</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/atlanta-school-facing-loss-of-charter/nTkKN/"><b>“Atlanta school facing loss of charter.”</b></a> Atlanta-Journal Constitution (GA), 1/2/2013</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Atlanta school board will hear
arguments in January whether to renew the charter of Atlanta Preparatory
Academy or follow a staff
recommendation to terminate it in June...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dispute over renewal illustrates the dynamics and nuances of charter
school relationships with local school boards, especially charters run by
for-profit management companies that collect taxpayer funds from the district
and extract hundreds of thousands of dollars in management fees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allen Mueller, APS’s executive director of innovation, told the board
Dec. 3 the case against Atlanta Prep’s renewal is clear-cut and the school’s
failings manifold. Atlanta Prep ranks in the bottom 20 percent of schools
statewide in academic performance; its enrollment is 45 percent lower than
originally projected; and it owes $801,384 to for-profit education management
company, Mosaica Education, Inc., he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mosaica has agreed to restructure the loan to eliminate a $568,000
balloon payment due in June, said Mueller. But the financial arrangement is
still “untenable” because it’s a potential threat to the autonomy of the board,
he said. The state of Georgia
recommends charter boards have the independence to overrule their management
companies...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">========================================================</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://eastatlanta.patch.com/blog_posts/charter-founder-profits-students-struggle"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://eastatlanta.patch.com/blog_posts/charter-founder-profits-students-struggle"><b>“Charter Founder Profits; Students Struggle.”</b></a> East
Atlanta Patch (GA), 12/11/2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">...In December 2006, Mosaica’s President Gene Eidelman filed a <a href="http://archives.gadoe.org/DMGetDocument.aspx/Atlanta%20Preparatory%20Academy%20Approved%20Petition%202008-2013.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F69C23D4EB395217FAF65581FAA39206B269678B4B52377111&Type=D"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">charter petition</span></a> to open the
Atlanta Preparatory Academy (APA). The charter application indicates that
non-profit APA intended to contract with for-profit Mosaica to provide all
services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unlike Grant Park’s community-based Atlanta Neighborhood
Charter School,
APA was not founded by a group of local parents seeking better options for
their kids. Instead, Gene Eidelman was joined by a team of three outsiders,
none of whom live in the community where APA planned to operate its school and
none of whom send children to the school...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The application acknowledged a conflict of interest as APA’s President
was also the founder, owner, and President of Mosaica.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Undeterred by this conflict, the APS Board of Education approved the
application...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since the Board of Education approved the school’s charter five years
ago, APA has been a revolving door for board members who join then leave the
organization... None of the individuals who have served as CFO appear to have
earned a degree in finance or accounting...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This instability and lack of financial experience stands in stark
contrast to the consistent financial leadership seen at Atlanta’s successful charters...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Much like Mosaica’s other schools, APA’s students rank among the bottom
of the pack on Georgia
exams...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Importantly, the school’s highest performing students are
7th graders who received their K-4 educations elsewhere, prior to APA
opening...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In addition to the charter’s dismal academic achievement, a review of
APA’s financial statements raises questions about whether the school has been a
good steward of public resources...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Management Agreement between APA and Mosaica calls for a fee of
12.5% of per-pupil revenue received by the school, which in 2012 amounted to
$577,716. It goes on to say that this fee “will not preclude the payment of
additional consideration,” paving the way for Mosaica to charge more for any
services not covered under the Management Agreement...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Only 36.2% of APA’s revenue for the year ended June 30, 2012 actually
went toward instruction. This was the lowest percentage of expenses allocated
to instruction among all of Atlanta’s
charter schools...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To date, APA has spent close to one million dollars of public money on a
site which in no way contributed to education...</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[READ THE WHOLE PIECE]</span></b></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-24881026054040903732013-09-12T15:05:00.002-07:002013-09-12T15:05:47.395-07:00Boys Preparatory Nashville <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/case-boys-prep-shows-charter-schools-face-same-startup-challenges">"Case of Boys Prep shows charter schools face same startup challenges."</a> </b> The City Paper (TN), 6/21/2013</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dozens of students have left the school. Parents have accused the
executive director of assaulting two students. And although the year-end test
scores have yet to be released, school leaders say they won’t be pretty...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rivalries within the leadership at the school shifted attention from the
kids in the building to the adults in the boardroom. Meanwhile, handling the
school’s 100 seventh-grade boys — a third of whom have some form of learning
disability — proved tougher than the founders fathomed...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Boys Prep board also began hemorrhaging members. In the charter’s
short history, 18 people have left the board, some of whom said they felt
forced out or were exhausted from dealing with the school’s internal politics.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While The City Paper reached out to current and former members of the
Boys Prep board, many never responded, and almost all who did reply refused to
talk about their experience on the record, if at all. That includes Monica
Davis, an instructor at MTSU who resigned from the board this month after
finishing two-thirds of her three-year term. She, too, refused to comment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The turnover that they’ve had is primarily related to their inability
to settle on strong leadership and consistent board leadership at the
beginning,” said Alan Coverstone, MNPS’ charter school guru and the executive
director of the district’s Office of Innovation, which oversees charters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Lots of groups have good ideas about what a school would look like, but
actually running a school is a bigger challenge,” he said. “This is a startup
organization. It’s a school. It’s a nonprofit. It’s a lot of things all at
once. If you don’t have a pretty good board collegiality — and a pretty good
board understanding of how organizations work — it’s a big red flag that we
look for,” he said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That red flag waved high shortly before Boys Prep opened its doors.
Three months ahead of the first day of school, Kennedy narrowly survived a
no-confidence vote from the Boys
Prep school board...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the meantime, two teachers provided by the Teach for America
alternative teaching certification program left the school for more stable gigs
elsewhere, leaving Boys Prep suddenly short on staff...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Concerned with possible tinkering with test scores and other misconduct,
Kennedy fired the popular school principal, the third since the school’s
inception. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While the school board backed the move, it was the first in a series of
events that would eventually lead to the founder being ousted from the school...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At least 39 of the 100 students who started with Boys Prep left last
school year, and 16 others entered. The number of students cycling out gives
the school one of the highest attrition rates in the district. Braddock said he
counseled some boys out of the school because it was a good move for those
individuals at the time, but would urge them to consider coming back...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===========================================================</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.newschannel5.com/story/21141559/charter-school-leader-comes-under-fire-over-discipline-methods"><b>“Charter School Leader Comes Under Fire Over Discipline Methods.”</b></a> NewsChannel5 (TN), 2/12/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NASHVILLE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, Tenn.
- Tempers got heated Tuesday night at a charter school board meeting in South Nashville where parents say enough is enough.
The founder and president of Nashville Boys Prep has come under fire for his
methods of discipline during the first semester of the school year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tuesday night's meeting went on for three hours. The vast majority
of that meeting focused on allegations against Dr. Martin Kennedy. He's
been on administrative leave from the school since December. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That's when DCS and Metro Police opened an investigation into
accusations of abuse. Several parents made their case in front of the
board Tuesday night... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">DCS has completed its investigation and the agency found the allegations
into the accusations of abuse against Kennedy to be unfounded. Metro Police
still haven't come to a conclusion in their case. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dr. Kennedy told NewsChannel 5 he fully expects to be reinstated as
president of Boys Prep. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===========================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/20387627/dcs-investigating-nashville-charter-school-founder"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/20387627/dcs-investigating-nashville-charter-school-founder"><b>“DCS investigating Nashville charter school founder.”</b></a> WSMV (TN), 12/19/2012</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NASHVILLE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, TN
(WSMV) - The leader of a Nashville
charter school is facing investigation over claims he assaulted two students. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Police and the Department of Children's Services are interviewing
students and teachers to find out whether Dr. Martin Kennedy went too far when
it comes to discipline at Boys
Preparatory Charter
School.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"I do not feel this individual is stable at all to be around kids.
He has no self control, by no means," said school parent Lynn Mullins. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mullins said her seventh-grade son is scared to go back to Boys Prep
after, she claims, he was assaulted by Kennedy... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Marciecilla Giddens said her son was also attacked by the same
teacher... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Both mothers have filed police reports, claiming Kennedy - a teacher and
the founder of the small south Nashville charter school - took discipline too
far...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Neither police nor DCS has commented on the investigation into the
parents' allegations...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, according to that board member, Kennedy is no longer teaching in
the classroom, but as founder of the school, he still has an affiliation with
the school...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-15413095510978220912013-09-12T14:52:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:52:48.670-07:00Bradenton Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/4/21/manatee_charter_scho.html"><b>“Manatee charter school scheduled to close.”</b></a> News 13 (FL), 4/21/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MANATEE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> COUNTY</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> -- About 100 Manatee County
students will need to find a new school for next year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After 13 years, the Bradenton
Charter School
is closing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Karen Carpenter Chair of the Manatee County School board said the school
is closing because the school failed to meet standards particularly in the area
of curriculum and governance.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But parents like Dana Russell say the school is a safe place for children
to learn. Half of the kids have learning disabilities and many others have been
bullied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“If they go to public schools they are going to be lost. But here they
get one on one. I believe they need this school,” said Russell.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Manatee School Board is planning to discuss the future of the
charter school during Monday’s school board meeting.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=============================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130421/article/130429940"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130421/article/130429940"><b>“Parents oppose closing of Bradenton Charter School.”</b></a>
Herald-Tribune, 4/21/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... Problems listed in the report include an unstable governing board,
no detailed curriculum, no assessment monitoring plan, no ESE or ESOL certified
staff, no food sanitation policies and lack of documentation on staff members.
Bradley explained that some areas of concern are the same from the school's
last review five years ago...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-74365395621652939202013-09-12T14:37:00.003-07:002013-09-12T14:47:26.262-07:00Citizens of the World Charter Schools<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130423/crown-heights/brooklyn-charter-school-targets-rich-white-parents-enrollment-plan-shows"><b>“Brooklyn Charter School Targets Rich, White Parents, Enrollment Plan Shows.”</b></a> DNAinfo.com (NY),
4/23/2013</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">BROOKLYN</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> — If you want to
be a <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/places/citizens-of-world-charter-school"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">citizen of the world</span></a>, it helps to
be rich.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Though it's moving into <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130314/crown-heights/charter-school-co-location-plan-irks-some-parents-at-struggling-ps-221"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">a school where more than 90 percent of
students qualify for free and reduced lunch</span></a>, the controversial Los
Angeles-based <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130129/greenpoint/parents-sue-state-for-approving-citizens-of-world-charter-school"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Citizens of the World Charter</span></a>
school is actively recruiting affluent families for its first year in Crown
Heights, DNAinfo.com New York has learned.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What's more, the primary engagement strategy for its New
York flagship school in Williamsburg
is geared almost exclusively at white parents, according to an internal
enrollment plan obtained by DNAinfo.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"Through targeted outreach and recruitment, our schools are
intentionally designed to reflect their surrounding communities and the larger
society in terms of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status," the<a href="http://www.citizensoftheworld.org/Diverse-Learning-Communities"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> charter network says on its website.</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the New York
enrollment memo seems to directly contradict that statement, with the most time
and resource-intensive recruitment tools clearly aimed at a small pocket of
affluent families, while cheap, low-impact tactics like handing out fliers
reserved for Headstarts and churches where recruiters are instructed to
"lean towards" black and Hispanic families.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A chart titled CSD 14 Priorities lists the recruiters' top strategy as
"engaging core parent group" and describes the target of that
strategy as "middle/upper income, predominantly white."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In District 17, the top priority is to "create core
foundation of contacts," a strategy again targeted exclusively at
"middle/upper income" parents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roughly half of the engagement strategies outlined in the memo are
specifically intended to attract those same targets.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One-on-one parent meetings and one-on-one meetings with local
pre-schools are saved for "middle/upper income" groups, whereas
Headstarts are earmarked for flyering and group info sessions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Where local preschools and Headstart programs were tough to
differentiate, as in Crown
Heights, recruiters are
cautioned that not all may be "hot targets."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's not just the paperwork that's skewed to exclude in Crown Heights
— the charter's parent information session was held at the Brooklyn Public
Library's Central Branch, more than two miles from P.S. 221 but a stone's throw
from the district's wealthiest parents in Prospect Heights.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While Citizens showers its attention on affluent families, parents at
P.S. 221 say they've barely heard from the school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"There’s been no community outreach or interaction," one
mother of three who declined to give her name for fear of losing her job told
DNAinfo in March.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"We heard them speak for about two minutes — that’s been the
breadth of our interaction with the folks at Citizens."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Citizens of the World did not immediately respond to repeated calls for
comment.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">======================================================================</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MORE RESOURCES</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.laschoolsmatter.info/2013/07/parent-exposes-citizens-of-world.html"><b>“Parent exposes Citizens of the World Charter Corporation's misdeedspart 1.” </b></a>LA Schools Matter blog, 7/14/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2013/04/citizens-of-what-world-recruiting.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2013/04/citizens-of-what-world-recruiting.html"><b>“Citizens of WHAT World? Charter's recruiting tactics and leakeddocuments.”</b></a> NYC Public School Parents blog, 4/27/2013 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130129/greenpoint/parents-sue-state-for-approving-citizens-of-world-charter-school"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130129/greenpoint/parents-sue-state-for-approving-citizens-of-world-charter-school"><b>“Parents Sue State for Approving Citizens of the World Charter School.”</b></a> DNAinfo New York, 1/29/2013</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/schoolbook/2012/dec/20/new-charter-for-northern-brooklyn-fuels-debate-over-gentrification/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/schoolbook/2012/dec/20/new-charter-for-northern-brooklyn-fuels-debate-over-gentrification/"><b>“New Charter for Northern BrooklynFuels Debate Over Gentrification.”</b></a> WNYC, 12/20/2012 </span></div>
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The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-10416176506466044862013-09-12T14:23:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:23:29.122-07:00Cleveland Academy of Scholarship Technology & Leadership Enterprise (CASTLE)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20130501/south-euclid-man-indicted-on-money-laundering-charges-involving-cleveland-charter-school"><b>“South Euclid man indicted on money laundering charges involving Cleveland charter school.”</b></a> The News-Herald (OH), 8/11/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ten people, including a South Euclid man,
from 13 companies were indicted Tuesday on multiple charges relating to the
operation of a Cleveland
charter high school. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said the 32-count
indictment included charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity,
conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft by deception,
money laundering and unlawful interest in a public contract. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Between July 2004 and June 2010, payments made to 13 "shell
companies" affiliated with board members of the Cleveland Academy of
Scholarship, Technology and Leadership Enterprise were not documented and the
state auditor issued findings for recovery of $1,850,489, according to the
indictment... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">==================================================================</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/04/post_137.html"><b>“Charter school officials accused of stealing nearly $2 million.”</b></a> The
Plain Dealer (OH), 4/30/2013</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">CLEVELAND</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, Ohio</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> -- Five former officials of the <a href="http://www.castle-school.org/aboutcastle"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Cleveland Academy of Scholarship Technology & Leadership Enterprise</span></a>
are among 10 people and 13 businesses accused of fleecing the
taxpayer-supported charter school out of nearly $2 million. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A 32-count indictment issued Tuesday accuses the former officials of
setting up shell companies to receive payments from the school for goods and
services that were never provided... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Among those charged were the school's former chief executive, William
Peterson, 43, of Dayton, and the former board
chairman, Thomas Unik III, 52, of Cleveland.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peterson used five shell companies, with names such as Educational
Management Alliance and Cross Tech EduServe, to steal $858,000 from the school,
according to prosecutors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unik, who is part-owner of the building that houses the school at the
corner of East 18th Street
and Superior Avenue
in Cleveland,
received $478,785 in excess of the amount dictated by the school's lease,
according to prosecutors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The charges followed <a href="http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsearch/Reports/2013/CASTLE_04-10_Special_Mont_Report.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">a State Auditor's Office investigation of
school financial transactions between July 1, 2004, and June 14, 2010.</span></a>
More than 1,000 payments to 134 vendors for more than $5.3 million were
examined. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The audit, released about a week ago, called for the recovery of
$1,850,489 in payments made by the school to companies that investigators said
were connected to the five school leaders and their associates... </span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-81081536810549799292013-09-12T14:18:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:18:31.556-07:00DaVinci Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/02/19/2458608/davinci-charter-school-in-garden.html">“DaVinci Charter School in Garden City to close Friday, impacting 130 students, 18 staff.”</a> </b>Idaho Statesman (ID), 2/19/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Due to a budget shortfall, a charter school that has been operating in
Garden City since the fall of 2006 will close its doors on Friday, school
officials said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The DaVinci
Charter School
opened in 2006 as the Garden City Community School — the name was changed because
some thought it was a community college, said Director Cindy Hoovel...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hoovel said the school began in modulars, then moved into a church. It
later moved to a strip mall on Chinden
Boulevard, but the lease wasn't renewed after a
firearms store and brewery moved in nearby. It finally moved to portable
trailers on Glenwood Street,
across from Hawks Memorial Stadium. The plan was to build a permanent school at
that site.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Several things led to the decision to shutter the facility, including
unanticipated costs associated with moving to the site, utility installation
costs, higher-than-average special needs services costs, and enrollment under
200 students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... The board paid off remaining bills — it does not have any remaining
debt — and opted to close rather than incur operating costs that could not be
immediately paid...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-60743252491533748112013-09-12T14:15:00.005-07:002013-09-12T14:15:57.398-07:00daVinci Institute<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/08/former_da_vinci_institute_teac_2.html"><b>“Former da Vinci Institute teacher sentenced to five to 20 years inprison.”</b></a> MLive.com (MI), 8/22/2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">JACKSON</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, MI</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> – A former da Vinci Institute teacher is
going to prison for five to 20 years for having a sexual relationship with a
15-year-old student.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain sentenced <a href="http://topics.mlive.com/tag/matthew-lusby/index.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Matthew Lusby</span></a>, 28, Wednesday
morning for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/07/former_da_vinci_teacher_pleads.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Lusby pleaded guilty to the charge in July.</span></a>
He admitted to having oral sex with the girl early this year. She was then a
student of Lusby, who worked as a math teacher at the public charter school in Summit Township...</span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">================================================================</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/07/former_da_vinci_teacher_pleads.html"><b>“Former da Vinci teacher pleads guilty to first-degree criminal sexualconduct.”</b></a> MLive.com (MI), 7/24/2012</span>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">JACKSON</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, MI</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> –<a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/03/former_da_vinci_institute_teac.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> A former da Vinci Institute teacher who had
a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student</span></a> pleaded guilty on
Tuesday to a single count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Da Vinci hired Lusby in the summer of 2009. He resigned on Feb. 23 to
take a substitute teaching position at another school, but did not reach an
agreement with the other district.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When hired, Lusby passed a criminal background check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is his first brush with the law, Rezmierski said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2012/03/teachers_personnel_file_reveal.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">At da Vinci, Lusby was told he needed to
improve classroom control and a “passive aggressive nature toward students,”
and once had to apologize for throwing a referees flag at a football game.</span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Last fall, the principal and superintendent told him
he should not be giving the girl a ride to school, especially when alone...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-46094428481799607282013-09-12T14:12:00.003-07:002013-09-12T14:12:44.302-07:00EPIC Academy Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/21586318/kevin-jones-coach-pleads-not-guilty-to-sexual-assault-wants-lower-bond"><b>“Ex-basketball coach pleads not guilty to sex assault, wants lower bond.”</b></a>
FOX32, 3/12/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">==================================================================</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8967465"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8967465"><b>“Bond set for coach accused of student sex assault.”</b></a> WLS-TV (IL),
1/25/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">January 25, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Bond has been set at $500,000 for a
basketball coach at EPIC Academy Charter School in Chicago accused of sexually
assaulting a 17-year-old student he offered a ride home. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Police say Kevin Jones, 33, was giving the victim a ride home from
school when he assaulted her in the car. He had also given a second girl a ride
home, but she left before the alleged assault took place, police said. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jones, who is a husband and a father of two, faces two counts of
criminal sex assault, and one count of attempted criminal sexual assault. He
coached the varsity boys basketball team. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He has been suspended from EPIC... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"There were other instances of inappropriate incidences by the coach,"
[Brad Cosgrove, victim's attorney] said... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jones also worked as a physical education teacher at <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">LEARN Charter School</span>
</span>on the South Side. On Friday, he was fired from that job... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jones is the process of getting his master's degree and is a deacon at
his church...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">An attorney for EPIC Charter
School said the school is
cooperating with police and prosecutors. The South Side charter school opened
in 2009... </span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-5174038982998608382013-09-12T14:09:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:09:54.012-07:00Excel Leadership Academy, f.k.a. Life Skills Center of Palm Beach<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/extracredit/2013/05/13/charter-school-has-day-in-court-today-to-fight-closure-by-school-board/"><b>“Charter school has day in court today to fight closure by school board.”</b></a> The Palm Beach
Post, 5/13/2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===============================================================</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-education/excel-charter-school-appeals-closure-decision/nW5qw/?icmp=pbp_internallink_textlink_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch"><b>“West Palm Beach charter school appeals closure decision.” </b></a>The Palm Beach Post (FL), 3/27/2013</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A West Palm Beach charter school that the
Palm Beach School District is trying to close has
appealed, arguing the school district has no right to shut its doors because
the district didn’t do enough to help the school...</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The school board voted 5-1 on March 6 to close Excel starting next
school year. A district report recommending the closure cited 13 alleged
failures by the school to comply with state rules and its charter contract with
the school district. The alleged Excel failures ranged from academic problems
such as not having all the required core subjects for a reading program to
having “deteriorating financial conditions,” with a $38,000 deficit found by
auditors.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Excel filed its appeal on Friday stating that it disputed the facts of
each of the alleged failures cited by the district “in whole or in part.” The
appeal also argued that the school district is obligated to provide support and
services to charter schools under state law and additional support to low
performing charter schools under the district’s own policies...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">District Senior Counsel Bruce Harris said the district does not comment
on pending litigation. He said the state would set a date for the appeal
hearing within 60 days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===============================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-03-06/news/sfl-palm-beach-county-saves-two-charter-schools-closes-one-20130306_1_frank-barbieri-school-board-board-member"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-03-06/news/sfl-palm-beach-county-saves-two-charter-schools-closes-one-20130306_1_frank-barbieri-school-board-board-member"><b>“Palm Beach County saves two charter schools, closes one.”</b></a> Sun Sentinel (FL), 3/6/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... But after hours of emotional testimony from more than 50 parents,
students and school staff, the board voted to close only Excel
Leadership Academy,
a high school in West Palm Beach...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The school was slated for closure in part for receiving two “F” grades
since 2009. Teachers were not adhering to the correct state benchmarks and
using outdated requirements...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, district officials said Excel Leadership
Academy is in a state of
financial emergency, struggling with declining enrollment and failure to
provide an adequate reading curriculum to students. The school board voted 4-2
to not renew the school’s contract, set to expire in June.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“These are basic compliance issues,” said board member
Chuck Shaw. He said rejecting the renewal would still give the school an
opportunity to overcome its financial challenges and reapply another year...”</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-13039000145666164462013-09-12T14:04:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:04:58.083-07:00Imagine School of North Port<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130509/ARTICLE/130509638"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130509/ARTICLE/130509638"><b>“Imagine School fight ends; principal to leave.”</b></a> Herald-Tribune (FL),
5/9/2013</span>
</div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NORTH PORT - The agreement came at 1 a.m. Thursday for the two sides
fighting for Imagine School at North
Port after nearly 16
hours of talks... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was an ending to the charter's contentious legal fight, which began
in February when the North
Port school tried to fire
its parent company and become independent... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In February, Matthews and the local officials complained about paying
hefty management fees with public tax dollars every year to the nonprofit
company. The board voted to break off from Imagine Schools — one of the largest
charter school companies in the nation — and run its own school, a move that
the corporation viewed as a coup détat.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Almost immediately, Imagine Schools sued Matthews and the local board
for more than $15,000 in Sarasota County Circuit Court and accused them of
several charges, including breach of contract.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The high-profile legal battle was fused by multiple court hearings,
back-and-forth contradictory emails to parents and a petition to support
Matthews that supporters passed around the school parking lots...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===============================================================</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/south_newsroom/all-eyes-on-charter-fallout/article_65b0b370-8129-11e2-9f7d-0019bb30f31a.html"><b>“All eyes on charter fallout.” </b></a>WWSB ABC 7 (FL), 3/13/2013</span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SARASOTA</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> COUNTY - Tuesday a judge ruled the principal of Imagine School
in North Port could keep his job. However, it
looks as though it will be a long fight over the future of the school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wednesday we talked to school board and legal experts who say the case
moving forward may just impact the future of charter schools across the
country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The future of a local independent charter school and educating more than
1,000 children in it was in a court room this week. "It is not a healthy
situation." The judge now suggesting the local school district get more
involved. Sarasota County School Board member Caroline Zucker says it's a gray
area. "There is no clear cut understanding of who owns what and who is
responsible for what."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The fight between the Imagine parent company and the local governing
board it appointed will likely continue through the court system. It may also
have a bigger impact then just here...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As officials get ready for the upcoming year at Imagine
School at North Port,
its legal team will prepare for court...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">========================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130219/ARTICLE/130219525/2055/NEWS?Title=NEW-North-Port-charter-school-breaks-off-from-Imagine-Schools-"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130219/ARTICLE/130219525/2055/NEWS?Title=NEW-North-Port-charter-school-breaks-off-from-Imagine-Schools-">“North Port charter school breaks off from Imagine Schools.”</a> </b>Herald-Tribune (FL), 2/19/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... The drama comes after the local charter school's governing board
voted unanimously last week to end its management contract with Imagine
Schools, its out-of-state parent company.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It looks like we're going to war with our former management company,”
said principal Justin Matthews, who has led the school since it opened in
2008...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthews announced that the school's new name would be Sarasota Preparatory School...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Imagine Schools isn't willing to let go so easily.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Within hours, the Virginia
nonprofit had filed a lawsuit seeking more than $15,000 in Sarasota County
Circuit Court.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The complaint says Matthews and the North Port
school defamed Imagine Schools with their comments to parents, the School Board
and the public.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Imagine Schools also alleges that Matthews violated his non-compete
contract when he abandoned his post at Imagine
School at North Port
and created a rival institution...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">===============================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/imagine-school-north-point-students-arrested-after-gun-found-on-campus"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/imagine-school-north-point-students-arrested-after-gun-found-on-campus"><b>“Imagine School, North Point students arrested after gun found on campus.”</b></a> WPTV (FL), 1/302013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NORTH PORT</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, Fla.
(AP) -- Police arrested two students at school in North Port
after a gun was found on campus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ( <a href="http://bit.ly/WPsZ6q0" target="-blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">http://bit.ly/WPsZ6q0</span></a> reports officials were tipped off about
the 9 mm handgun when a student told a teacher Tuesday afternoon at Imagine
School...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-60805948795839126212013-09-12T13:58:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:58:19.010-07:00Quest Academy (Utah)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.abc4.com/content/news/state/story/Former-teacher-to-stand-trial-for-sex-abuse-of/tCRtIaWiw0yVqEJCTTZoyA.cspx"><b>“Former teacher to stand trial for sex abuse of student.” </b></a>ABC4 (UT),
5/14/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">FARMINGTON</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Utah (ABC 4 Utah) - A high school teacher
will stand trial for sexually abusing a student.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Steve Niedzwiecki was fired from his teaching position at a charter school
in West Haven...</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Niedzwiecki was charged with eight counts of forcible sodomy, two counts
of forcible sexual abuse and attempted rape.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Niedzwiecki was a former teacher and basketball coach at Quest Academy
and Jefferson Academy. He was terminated from his
teaching position at Quest
Academy after he was
charged in December.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The victim says she befriended the teacher and worked on a project
together. But according to the probable cause statement, the girl and the
teacher were trading emails and text messaging. In court she testified that
their relationship turned physical and became sexual. She claimed Niedzwiecki
promised to marry her after their relationship turned sexual.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"He was a trusted teacher, a coach and was very
manipulative," said the victim's aunt Kathy Carver... </span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-53155080526747935272013-09-12T13:54:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:54:24.886-07:00Lee Alternative Charter High School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.lehighacrescitizen.com/page/content.detail/id/526701.html"><b>“Lee Alternative Charter shuts down in Lehigh.”</b></a> Lehigh Acres Citizen
(FL), 1/9/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of the 149 students at the Lee
Alternative Charter
School, off of Taylor Lane in Lehigh Acres, are in
classes in other schools in Fort Myers
this week.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The students and their parents were forced to find other schools because
the Lehigh school, which was owned by Richard Milburn Academy Schools of Southwest Florida, was forced to close due to financial
problems.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is the third charter school that is a part of the Milburn Academy of
Schools that has been forced to close its doors over the past six months.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The school was located in what had been a multi-screened movie theater
and later a church. The building was built about a dozen years ago...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-72632104038619484382013-09-12T13:48:00.000-07:002013-09-12T14:24:30.791-07:00Legacy Charter School (Idaho)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.idahopress.com/members/former-legacy-principal-charter-violated-procedure/article_b661e808-8c6d-11e2-92e6-0019bb2963f4.html"><b>“Former Legacy principal: Charter violated procedure.”</b></a> Idaho Press-Tribune (ID), 3/14/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NAMPA — Former Legacy Charter School co-principal and teacher Monika
Gangwer said she was fired after she blew the whistle on an effort to jump a
student ahead on a post-lottery waiting list.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A lawsuit, filed March 8 in Canyon
County, names the school,
Harbor School Method creator Rebecca Stallcop and Legacy Charter Board Chairman
Bart McKnight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The 21-page lawsuit says Gangwer refused to let the student, known as
“Jane Doe,” attend the Legacy kindergarten class, even though Stallcop said the
student should be admitted because of an error in the lottery process...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to the lawsuit, Gangwer also had become concerned in early
2012 that Stallcop seemed to operate Legacy, Liberty and Victory charter schools as one,
even though each school is a distinct and separate entity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The complaint alleges that Stallcop illegally
transferred money and property among the schools, without proper documentation
or board approval...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-80973359905237367922013-09-12T13:45:00.001-07:002013-09-12T15:36:53.333-07:00Eric Mahmoud charter schools<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/199606941.html"><b>“Georgia file connects Twin Cities charter school, fraud scheme.”</b></a> Star Tribune (MN),
3/22/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When the <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/165679246.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">news broke last summer</span></a> that
charter school entrepreneur Eric Mahmoud had entered a guilty plea to a
mortgage fraud charge in Georgia,
Mahmoud had a ready comeback for the <a href="http://www.startribune.com/topics/places/minneapolis.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Minneapolis</span></a> school district,
under whose authorization he was opening another charter school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I assure you that this was a personal, residential matter in Georgia and had
nothing to do with Seed Daycare, Harvest Prep or any other educational
institution,” Mahmoud told Sara Paul, the district’s liaison with charter
schools, in an Aug. 16 e-mail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In that case, Mahmoud has some explaining to do.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to an investigative file compiled by Georgia
authorities, there are at least two connections involving the school with the
deal...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/high-performing-charter-schools-beating-odds-or-beating-test"><b>“High Performing Charter Schools: Beating the Odds, or Beating theTest?”</b></a> National Education Policy
Center blog, 8/30/2012</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">...In Minnesota,
birthplace of the charter school movement, one charter school operator labeled
an “odds beater” has put a new twist on the concept. Eric Mahmoud, a former
engineer and convicted mortgage fraudster, operates a group of segregated
charter schools targeted at black, inner-city poor children that employs longer
school days and years, strict discipline, and an unabashed strategy of beating
state achievement tests.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For his success in raising math and reading scores, Mahmoud has been
given rock-star status among charter proponents and recently was <a href="http://www.publiccharters.org/pressreleasepublic/default.aspx?id=788"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">inducted</span></a> into the National
Alliance for Public Charter Schools hall of fame. In return, the Minneapolis
school board recently awarded him the right to open four more charter schools
sponsored by the city's school district, all presumably to be run in what a
local conservative columnist laudingly called his “drill and kill” style. News
stories and opinion pieces from traditional to the alternative press have nonetheless
sung his praises, so desperate is the reform community to raise test scores.
Meanwhile, almost no one has questioned the efficacy or morality of
deliberately segregated schools, nor ones so focused on improving specific test
scores. It seemed that, until very recently, Mahmoud could do no wrong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Three weeks ago that might all have changed with a <a href="http://search.startribune.com/search?stq=Eric%2BMahmoud&q=Eric%2BMahmoud+&btnG=&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&entsp=a&dnavs=" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">series of
investigative stories</span></a> in the Minneapolis Star
Tribune by veteran reporter Steve Brandt highlighting fiscal and
management questions that, given the lax controls on charter schools and
Mahmoud's previous mortgage crime are unsurprising. Among Brandt's cumulative
reporting is the following:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• Mahmoud's combined salary for his duties running charter schools
(which total 900 enrollment) and their parent organization amounted to
$273,000, more than any other superintendent in the state. In addition his
wife, whose occupation is listed as “secretary,” took home $105,000, and his
daughter got $28,000 as an “administrative aide.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• Three of the four board members of the schools' parent organization,
called “Seed Daycare,” which leases property to the school and provides
administrative services, are Mahmoud family members.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• A letter from the charter school's authorizer “asserts that teachers
whom Harvest (one of Mahmoud's charter schools) paid as contractors clearly
fall under the IRS definition of employees.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• The school's authorizer, Audubon Center of the North Woods, sent a
“letter of deficiency” to Mahmoud asking for clarification of the
organization's finances and for an explanation of “frequent payments among
Mahmoud's organizations and Mahmoud himself,” and that “it's unclear what they
are for and whether state money that supports Harvest and related entities is
being used appropriately.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• The Minnesota Department of Education is seeking to recoup money it
granted to Mahmoud for an earlier, failed charter school used for its
construction and to equip it. The MNDOE turned this issue over to the state
auditor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">• Mahmoud, who operates deliberately segregated schools, is claiming
racial discrimination, a claim disputed by the state, in the revocation of a
$300,000 grant to one of his schools. The grant was to be used for a federally
funded program called Reading First, which required the school to hire a
full-time literacy coordinator and to use licensed teachers in the program,
neither of which Mahmoud did.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But more important than the financial and management problems at Seed
schools is the nature and structure of the educational pedagogy. The schools
teach to the tests. Not just teach to them, but engineer high test scores with
frequent testing, 100 minute blocks of reading and math each day and other
methods...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/166771406.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/166771406.html"><b>“Mahmoud, MDE clashed over pulling grant.”</b></a> Star Tribune (MN), 8/20/2012</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/165813196.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/165813196.html"><b>“State inquiry focuses on failed north Minneapolis school.”</b></a> Star Tribune (MN),
8/15/2012</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/166274586.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/166274586.html"><b>“Mahmoud's 273K salary raises eyebrows.” </b></a>Star Tribune (MN), 8/15/2012</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/165679246.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/165679246.html"><b>"State examining finances of charter founder's schools.”</b></a> Star Tribune (MN), 8/10/2012</span>The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-20302067354994018622013-09-12T13:39:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:39:21.819-07:00YMCA Young Leaders Academy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/milwaukee-educator-ronn-johnson-faces-new-child-sex-abuse-charges-b9973873z1-219288761.html"><b>“Milwaukee educator Ronn Johnson faces new child sex abuse charges.”</b></a> Journal Sentinel
(WI), 8/12/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/prominent-milwaukee-education-leader-fired-after-news-of-arrest-b9964325z1-217427411.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">ex-charter school leader in Milwaukee now faces
23 criminal charges related to the alleged sexual abuse</span></a> of five
children of varying ages from 1991 through last month, according to a revised
criminal complaint filed Monday.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ronn Johnson, 46, who appeared Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court
for his preliminary hearing, had <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/ex-charter-school-leader-charged-with-14-molestation-felonies-b9965641z1-217698491.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">first been charged with 14 felony counts
alleging he assaulted three brothers</span></a>, now ages 16 to 18, who were
former students. Two men have come forward since the initial July 31 charges
with abuse allegations, the new complaint states.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Johnson, of Brown Deer, was vice president of education for the Midwest
region for Universal Companies, </b>a nonprofit charter-school management company
from Pennsylvania that is expanding into Milwaukee. He was fired
after his arrest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Johnson also was the administrator at YMCA
Young Leaders
Academy, a charter school, and had
taught at Lee Elementary
School in Milwaukee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The criminal complaint describes a pattern in which Johnson would single
out children — he called them his "godsons" and asked them to call
him their "godfather" — and invite them to his residence where he
would engage in inappropriate touching...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Assistant District Attorney Sara B. Lewis asked that the bail remain
because of the "very significant and sizable" case against Johnson,
who is facing multiple counts of forcibly sexually assaulting children.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lewis added that prosecutors have "a strong belief there will be
additional victims."...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Brown Deer police identified two additional victims from the letters the
victims had written to Johnson from prison...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The assaults began in 1997 when the man was 8 years old and continued
until 2001, according to the complaint...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-8708948966002744612013-09-12T13:31:00.001-07:002013-09-12T13:32:42.901-07:00Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School (Oklahoma)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/okc/Charter-school-teacher-accused-of-molesting-student/-/11777584/19091794/-/518hdhz/-/index.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/okc/Charter-school-teacher-accused-of-molesting-student/-/11777584/19091794/-/518hdhz/-/index.html"><b>“Charter school teacher accused of molesting student.”</b></a> KOCO (OK),
2/26/2013</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">OKLAHOMA CITY</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> —A teacher at a
charter school in Oklahoma City
has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old student, according to court documents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pascal Wayne Jones, 42, of Edmond,
has been charged with 10 counts of forcible oral sodomy, five counts of rape by
instrumentation and 10 counts of lewd acts with a child under 16 years old.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The girl told Oklahoma City police
detectives that the molestation started in Nov. 2011 when Jones "touched
her breasts" while she was a student at the Marcus Garvey
Leadership Charter
School located at 1537 NE 24th St.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The victim told detectives that she performed several sexual acts on
Jones until May 2012.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During the course of the investigation, detectives said, Jones was
arrested on suspicion of stalking the victim at her new high school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">According to court documents, the charter school's
principal held a meeting with staff to discuss the allegations in 2012. Police
also conducted a failure-to-protect investigation into the school...</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-school-board-votes-to-close-charter-school/article/3835681"><b>“Oklahoma City School Board votes to close charter school.”</b></a> The
Oklahoman (OK), 5/13/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... District administrators allege poor academics and financial
mismanagement. An attorney for the school said that's not the case. Both sides
called foul on the other's interpretation of test scores...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hunt presented state testing numbers comparing Marcus Garvey to the
other charter schools with similar demographics. Some numbers were similar, but
others were drastically different...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kwame Mumina, an attorney speaking on behalf of Marcus Garvey, said the
statistics weren't fair...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">School officials don't follow state law when it comes to tracking and
paying for school expenses, said Jean Bostwick, a controller in the district
finance department.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The school district was paying for meals at the school, but the school
was also receiving federal funds for those same meals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Instead of using the federal funds to pay the school district back, the
school kept the money. When district officials pointed out the problem, the
school eventually paid it all back. But it didn't have all $92,000 on hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Board member Phil Horning said that points to misspending...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-31772969852892224462013-09-12T13:26:00.001-07:002013-09-12T13:26:53.925-07:00Marcus Garvey Public Charter School (Washington, DC)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/school-principal-avoids-jail-sentence-assault-reporter-police"><b>“School principal avoids jail sentence in assault on reporter, police.”</b></a>
Reporters Committee for Fredom of the Press, 11/3/1997</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">WASHINGTON, D.C.--A Washington, D.C. charter school principal was
sentenced in mid-October to two years' probation for assaulting a Washington
Times reporter and two D.C. police officers. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A D.C. Superior Court judge rejected the prosecutor's argument that Mary
A.T. Anigbo, principal of the Marcus
Garvey Public
Charter School,
deserved jail time for assaulting reporter Susan Ferrechio and the two officers
at the school in early December. Instead, Anigbo will have to perform 240 hours
of community service. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferrechio had gone to the school to complete a story on charter schools,
which are publicly funded but privately managed. According to testimony during
the trial, Ferrechio said that inside the school, she was assaulted by Anigbo,
other staff members and students. She said Anigbo, who is black, yelled racial
epithets as Ferrechio was physically ejected from the school. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferrechio returned two hours later with a Times photographer and two
police officers. Another scuffle broke out when the photographer began snapping
photos of Anigbo and other school employees. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In D.C. Superior Court in early August, Anigbo was convicted of three
counts of simple assault for attacking Ferrechio and the two police officers
and one count of taking property without right for stealing Ferrechio's
notepad. Three other Garvey employees were also found guilty of similar
charges. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prosecutors urged that Anigbo be jailed for the incident because "a
defendant who expresses no remorse for her crime and no respect for the court
shows little chance of genuine rehabilitation on probation," The
Washington Post reported. Anigbo could have faced up to 21 months in prison and
fines totaling $3,300. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to The Post, Judge Truman Morrison III called Anigbo's conduct
"serious," but added that "by failing to incarcerate her, the
court is not condoning her conduct." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Morrison also said he was not pleased with Anigbo's recurring claim that
the trial was an exercise in racism, The Post reported. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Anigbo said she is appealing her conviction and that
she will file a civil suit against The Times and the D.C. police. Her attorney
would not elaborate. (D.C. v. Anigbo)</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-17745624146884482762013-09-12T13:21:00.001-07:002013-09-12T13:21:41.749-07:00Martin Behrman Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/02/algiers_school_coach_accused_o.html"><b>“Algiers school coach, accused of statutory rape, now faces more serious allegation.”</b></a>
The Times-Picayune (LA), 2/6/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An Algiers
elementary school coach accused last week of <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/01/elementary_school_teacher_in_a.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">the statutory rape of a student</span></a>
is now facing a more serious allegation. Police suspect that Frank Norris, 23,
began abusing the unidentified student in April 2010, when she was 11 and in
the sixth grade</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">; detectives booked him Tuesday with one count of aggravated
rape, which is punishable upon conviction by mandatory life imprisonment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to court papers, the coach and academic interventionist at <a href="http://www.behrmancharter.org/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Martin
Behrman Charter School</span></a> approached the girl for the first time while
she was on campus, sitting outdoors. Norris led her to the band room, took his
clothes off, disrobed her and raped her, police allege...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On Jan. 30, the girl's mother called police and told officers that she
had learned, by reading her daughter's diary, that her daughter was having sex
with Norris. Detectives immediately interviewed the girl, and she said that she
had been having consensual sex with Norris since last year's softball season at
Behrman, police said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Norris was booked that day with two counts of felony
carnal knowledge of a juvenile, defined in Louisiana as a crime in which
"a person who is 17 years of age or older has sexual intercourse, with
consent, with a person who is 13 years of age or older but less than 17 years
of age." But on Jan. 31, the girl informed police that Norris had been
having sex with her for more than two years, court records state...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-8306207155335026532013-09-12T13:18:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:18:35.416-07:00Mosaica Education<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://eastatlanta.patch.com/blog_posts/charter-founder-profits-students-struggle"><b>“Charter Founder Profits; Students Struggle.”</b></a> East
Atlanta Patch (GA), 12/11/2012</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From its headquarters one block south of Wall Street, Mosaica Education
claims to operate with a simple mission: “To empower students to learn and
achieve – every child, every day.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This for-profit charter management company was founded in 1997 by Sandy Springs resident Gene Eidelman and has since
expanded to a network of 90 schools, generating more than $125M in annual
revenue. For several years, Inc. Magazine has ranked Mosaica as one of
the fastest growing companies in urban America.[i] </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, students attending schools managed by Mosaica have not
seen their educational trajectories rise with the management company’s
revenue. Instead, Mosaica’s students around the country consistently
underperform their peers...</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During Mosaica’s short tenure on the national stage, it has found itself
immersed in a series of scandals across the country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Lafayette
Academy Charter
School opened in the fall
of 2006, paying Mosaica $773,000 for the first year of a five-year management
contract. Less than 10 days into the school year, the charter’s governing board
started “noticing problems.” In a lawsuit filed against Mosaica, the governing
board alleged that the management company failed to align its curriculum to Louisiana standards,
failed to establish an after-school program for struggling students, and failed
to properly organize transportation to and from the school. On September
14, 2007, an <a href="http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/09/charter_school_wins_lawsuit_ag.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">arbitrator awarded</span></a> the governing
board a $350,000 judgment against Mosaica and upheld the school’s termination
of its management agreement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two years later, Mosaica’s Howard
Road Academy
in D.C. was embroiled in a cheating scandal when a student announced to her
exam proctor that she knew all the answers to the DC-CAS standardized test
because she had been given the test to practice the day before. The
Washington Post <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/08/cheating_on_dc-cas_costs_chart.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">later reported</span></a> that Mosaica
administrators distributed tests prior to exam day for “extra practice</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In April 2012, Mosaica’s STEAM Academy of Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
faced revocation of its charter for financial problems and low academic
performance. Just before annual exams were to be administered, The
Winston-Salem Journal <a href="http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/article_a57486d3-ee40-5718-af59-7389f2f7419d.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">reported</span></a> that Mosaica hired
Susan Willis to run the school. Prior to landing this job, Ms. Willis was
fired by her previous employer when an investigation found that she conspired
to boost test scores as the principal of William
Flemming High
School in Roanoke,
Virginia. Mosaica claimed
to be “aware of a testing irregularity,” when hiring Ms. Willis, but “didn’t
think it was anything significant.”...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Just last week, the Detroit News <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121204/SCHOOLS/212040358"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">reported</span></a> that Mosaica’s newest school
in Muskegon Heights, Michigan has struggled to maintain a stable
staff during its first year of operations. The principal quit before classes
started, and just three months into the school year, 25% of the teachers have
also left the school. ...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A comprehensive analysis conducted by <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPSL-0504-101-CERU.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Arizona State University</span></a> lists
the first 36 schools founded by Mosaica since it began operating in 1997.
Twenty seven of those schools have since been shut down by local authorizers or
have extricated themselves from Mosaica’s management.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of the nine which survived, eight can be classified as categorical
failures...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only possible beacon of success among Mosaica’s first 36 education
attempts is the Columbus
Preparatory Academy.
Founded in 2004, until recently, the school has struggled...saw its performance
undergo a meteoric rise to the 81st percentile on the state’s 2011 tests.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even if this single-year increase is an accurate reflection of lasting student
growth at Columbus
Prepartory Academy,
Mosaica has demonstrated no capacity to duplicate the success elsewhere.
Instead, the organization seems willing to accept a certain level of school
closures, focusing instead on a strategy of opening new schools. During the
time the network watched 27 of its first 36 schools close, it was able to open
more than 75 new schools. As long as Mosaica opens more schools than it sees
closed each year, its revenue can continue to grow...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-23854046928895529142013-09-12T13:14:00.003-07:002013-09-12T13:14:50.499-07:00New Century Academy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.knuj.net/2013/06/hutchinson-student-sex-plea/">“Hutchinson student sex plea.”</a></b> KNUJ (MN), 6/19/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A former staff member at a Hutchinson
charter school accused of having sex with students has pleaded guilty to 2
counts of criminal sexual conduct. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a>29-year-old Stephen Michael Noga avoided a
jury trial with the plea. He was arrested at the New
Century Charter
School in Hutchinson in March after the allegations
surfaced. He had allegedly been having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old
female student over the past two years while working in the school’s
Information Technology Department. Officials say there was a sexual
relationship with another student as well. Noga remains in custody in the
McLeod County Jail, and his sentencing is scheduled for July 9th.</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.hutchinsonleader.com/news/crimes_and_public_safety/hutchinson-charter-school-employee-faces-sex-charge/article_a763b87e-75c5-50c9-9179-7d015cfe62bd.html?mode=jqm"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.hutchinsonleader.com/news/crimes_and_public_safety/hutchinson-charter-school-employee-faces-sex-charge/article_a763b87e-75c5-50c9-9179-7d015cfe62bd.html?mode=jqm">“Hutchinson charter school employee faces sex charge.”</a> </b>Hutchinson Leader, (MN), 3/16/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A staff member of New Century Academy
and New Discoveries Montessori
Academy was arrested
Thursday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student
for about two years...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stephen Michael Noga, 29, of Hutchinson
allegedly began the relationship when the girl was at least 16. He has been
charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct by the McLeod County
Attorney’s Office...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Noga was hired by the charter schools during the
2010-2011 school year as a technical integration specialist, New Discoveries
Superintendent Dave Conrad said Friday. The two schools shared Noga as their
information technology coordinator. Noga has been placed on paid administrative
leave...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-63419825920241700862013-09-12T13:10:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:10:42.152-07:00New Designs Charter School<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=9082022"><b>“New Designs Charter School teacher awaits arraignment on molestation charges.” </b></a>KABC (CA), 4/27/2013</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An arraignment date has been set for the New Designs
Charter School
teacher accused of molesting three girls. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Juan Cardoza, 55, is scheduled to appear in court May 15. He was
arrested on Wednesday at his residence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cardoza has been charged with four felony counts of committing a lewd
act on a child and one misdemeanor count of child molestation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Investigators say the incidents occurred between October 2012 and March
2013. He is currently being held on $320,000 bail...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">==================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-molest-arrest-20130426,0,3134331.story"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></b></div>
<b>
</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-molest-arrest-20130426,0,3134331.story">“Willowbrook teacher accused of molesting 3 teenage girls.”</a> </b>Los Angeles Times (CA),
4/26/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Los Angeles</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> County</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> sheriff’s detectives arrested a
55-year-old teacher at a charter school in Willowbrook who allegedly molested
three teenage girls.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The alleged incidents occurred at the New Designs
Charter School
between October and March, according to a sheriff’s bulletin. The girls were 14
and 15...</span></div>
</blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-33140368081941850422013-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:06:17.233-07:00New Discoveries Montessori Academy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.knuj.net/2013/06/hutchinson-student-sex-plea/">“Hutchinson student sex plea.”</a></b> KNUJ (MN), 6/19/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A former staff member at a Hutchinson
charter school accused of having sex with students has pleaded guilty to 2
counts of criminal sexual conduct. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a>29-year-old Stephen Michael Noga avoided a
jury trial with the plea. He was arrested at the New
Century Charter
School in Hutchinson in March after the allegations
surfaced. He had allegedly been having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old
female student over the past two years while working in the school’s
Information Technology Department. Officials say there was a sexual
relationship with another student as well. Noga remains in custody in the
McLeod County Jail, and his sentencing is scheduled for July 9th.</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">=================================================================</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.hutchinsonleader.com/news/crimes_and_public_safety/hutchinson-charter-school-employee-faces-sex-charge/article_a763b87e-75c5-50c9-9179-7d015cfe62bd.html?mode=jqm"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://www.hutchinsonleader.com/news/crimes_and_public_safety/hutchinson-charter-school-employee-faces-sex-charge/article_a763b87e-75c5-50c9-9179-7d015cfe62bd.html?mode=jqm">“Hutchinson charter school employee faces sex charge.”</a></b> Hutchinson Leader, (MN), 3/16/2013</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A staff member of New Century Academy
and New Discoveries Montessori
Academy was arrested
Thursday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student
for about two years...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stephen Michael Noga, 29, of Hutchinson
allegedly began the relationship when the girl was at least 16. He has been
charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct by the McLeod County
Attorney’s Office...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Noga was hired by the charter schools during the
2010-2011 school year as a technical integration specialist, New Discoveries
Superintendent Dave Conrad said Friday. The two schools shared Noga as their
information technology coordinator. Noga has been placed on paid administrative
leave...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191988759715347962.post-32471007499131148392013-09-12T12:58:00.000-07:002013-09-12T13:00:34.320-07:00New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://thelensnola.org/2013/04/23/former-employee-investigated-for-stealing-31000-from-charter-school-once-charged-with-theft-from-terrebone-school/">“Military academy’s background check didn’t turn up employee’s prior theft charge.”</a></b> The Lens (LA), 4/23/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The man police are investigating for theft and fraud involving $31,000
in school funds has been accused of taking public education dollars before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Darrell K. Sims, 54, a former business manager at New Orleans Military
and Maritime Academy
in Algiers, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/686681-simstheftterrcourtfile02041998img.html" target="_blank"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">was accused of
misappropriating $1,642 from the Terrebonne Parish School Board in 1996-97</span></a>.
He was a teacher at the time, according to a school spokeswoman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was one of a number of arrests in Sims’ past that the military
academy’s top school administrator said did not show up in an employee
background check conducted when Sims was hired in 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That could be because the school’s background check, required by the
state but conducted by a private company, encompassed only arrests in the last
seven years. The state offers a background search that goes back further. The
state’s more expansive background check also turns up charges, like the
Terrebonne one, that are resolved through pretrial intervention. It does not
appear that the school’s check covered such incidents...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sims is now employed at another school, Joseph A. Craig Charter
School in Treme, as a
data manager...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Over the years Sims has been arrested several times on charges of
writing worthless checks, according to court and police records...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Davis, the head of the military academy, said that he didn’t know of
Sims’ past legal matters because the school’s background check went back only
seven years and didn’t turn up anything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NOMMA contracts with Delta Administrative Services for its human
resources needs, Davis
said. Delta contracted with a firm called SingleSource to do the seven-year
background check for a fee of $30.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The state Department of Public Safety & Corrections conducts a
criminal background check for schools for $42.50, searching state and federal
databases for all arrests for which fingerprints were collected, including
those resolved through pretrial intervention before a conviction can take
place...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a
local nonprofit working to eliminate public corruption, said it is in a
school’s best interest to know as much as possible about the people it hires —
and that is precisely why such information is available to schools.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“For $40, you’re using a law enforcement database that’s always going to
be better than a private database,” Goyeneche said. “I think every school
system and every school should utilize the law enforcement database. You can’t
have too much information on someone that is going to have access to
children.”...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Davis said that when Sims was asked in writing on July
7, 2011, whether he’d ever been convicted of a crime — including “but not
limited to pleas of guilty, nollo contendre, no contest, adjudication withheld,
and pretrial intervention programs” — he checked a box that said “no.”...</span></blockquote>
The Perimeter Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12619173438763495716noreply@blogger.com0