Boys Preparatory Nashville

"Case of Boys Prep shows charter schools face same startup challenges."  The City Paper (TN), 6/21/2013

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...

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...

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.

Bradenton Charter School

“Manatee charter school scheduled to close.” News 13 (FL), 4/21/2013

MANATEE COUNTY -- About 100 Manatee County students will need to find a new school for next year.

After 13 years, the Bradenton Charter School is closing.

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.

Imagine School of North Port

“Imagine School fight ends; principal to leave.” Herald-Tribune (FL), 5/9/2013

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...

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...

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.

Fulton Science Academy High School*

“School board: Fulton Science Academy appeal must wait till May, June.” NorthFulton.Com (GA), 4/14/2013

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – With May 23 the final day of school in Fulton County, it appears probable a decision on the future of the Fulton Science Academy High School will come just days before that date, putting in flux the academic plans for hundreds of high school students.

Challenge Charter School

“Newton charter school owes $165K for insurance, rent.” Newton Citizen (GA), 3/27/2013

COVINGTON -- Challenge Charter Academy owes about $165,000 to local and state groups.

The Georgia Department of Community Health, which provides state health insurance benefits for employees, notified the school and Newton County Board of Education on Monday about the school's delinquency of $116,477.57. The department also notified the state Board of Education and the Georgia Charter School Commission about the matter, according to a letter sent to the school...

Baxter Academy of Technology and Science

“Portland charter school, ousted founder settle legal dispute.” Maine Sunday Telegram (ME), 4/10/2013

PORTLAND — Portland’s first charter school and its founder, who was fired by the board of directors, have settled their legal disputes, both parties announced Tuesday...

The school and Jaques voluntarily dismissed the legal dispute with prejudice, which means both parties agree not to file any further claims associated with the dispute...

Magnolia Science Academy charter schools

“Audit Report – Magnolia Science Academy-Charter Schools.” Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of the Inspector General, 8/20/2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report contains the results of our audit of Magnolia Science Academy –Charter Schools (“MSA Schools”). The MSA Schools referred to in this audit were the Magnolia Science Academy-1, Magnolia Science Academy-2 and Magnolia Science Academy-3. The MSA Schools are part of twelve Magnolia Public Schools (MPS) operated by the Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation (MERF)...

Our audit found that the MSA Schools were not in full compliance with the selected provisions, standards and procedures outlined in their respective Charter Agreements. We also noted that the MSA Schools needed to strengthen their internal control systems and their oversight of fiscal and financial operations.

Quest Academy (NV)

“Quest Academy board considers disciplining other school employees.” KTNV 13 News (NV), 1/30/2013

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- It was another late night on Tuesday at Quest Academy...

Principal Connie Jordan was fired for abusing her authority and using taxpayer dollars for personal gain...

A former employee wrote a letter to the board saying the high school administration is incompetent and self-serving...

Also facing action Tuesday night was business manager Robin Vitiello and office manager Melissa Hester. Board members told Hester that school video cameras caught her and Jordan destroying records in Jordan's office last Monday when the school was closed for Martin Luther King Day.

The auditor that Quest hired found checks cut to Robin Vitiello that appeared to be unapproved bonuses. There are also allegations that she was forced to kick some of that money back to former principal Jordan.

Madrone Trail Charter School

“Madrone Trail parents seek intervention.” Mail Tribune (OR), 11/20/2012

A parent of two Madrone Trail Charter School students urged the Medford School Board Monday to intervene with the operations of the charter school board.

Lorraine McDonald said she represented a number of parents who have come together to share their worries about the charter school board...

McDonald said she was one of the founding parents of the 200-student, Waldorf-inspired charter school, and since its opening, she has grown concerned over the board's ability to manage the school's future...

Members of the Medford School Board said that in order for the charter to be renewed next year, a lot of progress would have to be made very quickly...

Happy Valley School

“Insiders benefiting in charter deals, Board members, school officials did more than $70mil in business.” The Arizona Republic, 11/17/2012

... The Gaddie family reflects how family ties can run deep at charter schools.

Happy Valley School in Peoria has a three-member non-profit board made up entirely of Gaddie family members, according to the most recent federal tax return. Ernest Gaddie is president. His wife, Delite Gaddie, is secretary, and their son, Glen Gaddie, is a board member...

For several years, the school has contracted with Gaddie Curriculum & Education Consulting, a business owned by Ernest and Delite Gaddie. The company provides business consulting, maintenance and operations services and licenses curriculum to the school, according to tax returns and audits...

Burnham Wood Charter School District (three schools)

“Problems bring TEA monitor for Burnham Wood Charter School District.” El Paso Times (TX), 7/21/2012

The Texas Education Agency has assigned a monitor to the Burnham Wood Charter School District as a sanction for many problems the state previously found, including school leaders who misused public funds on some business deals and campuses not properly serving at-risk students.

The charter district's Superintendent Iris Burnham did not return phone calls this week, but in an email she said the district is contesting the education agency's decision to assign a monitor...

A state audit report released earlier this year showed that the district, which runs three charter schools in El Paso [see * below], misused public funds on some property transactions, which allegedly resulted in private benefits for Burnham, who is also the president of the district's board of directors.

Context Middle School

“Financial woes, doomed charter school.” The Press-Enterprise (CA), 3/11/2012

Temecula’s Context Middle School was billed as a small learning environment where teachers would emphasize how lessons related to the real world.

When it opened in August, the charter school set out to focus on technology and the arts, with dozens of laptops for students and music lessons during and after school.

Less than six months and more than $800,000 in taxpayer dollars later, Context was gone.

It joins a list of 26 other Inland charter schools that have closed or had their charters revoked in the past 20 years. Charter schools, created to foster innovation and freed from some state rules, sometimes struggle with the administrative tasks and finances needed to run a campus, experts say...

Florida charter schools (investigator observations)

“Experiences As A Police Officer With The Ugly Side Of Charter Schools And Their Management Companies.” Florida Public Employees Partnership, 12/15/2011 

With such a strong push for continued expansion in Florida, I am compelled to share my experiences as a police officer with the ugly side of Charter Schools and their management companies. As a former investigator and supervisor of a public corruption unit, several years ago my unit was responsible for a series of criminal investigations involving personnel, owners, and partners of Charter Schools. Where as some of these investigations resulted in schools being shut down and arrests others culminated in utter frustration resulting from criminals getting away with fraud. A fact made possible by industry wide practices that benefit from weak laws and the impossibility of effective industry oversight. 

During the course of these investigations members of my unit worked with a host of local, state, and federal investigators. One of which became the target of a multi-state Federal Bureau of Investigations criminal investigation. Where as, I do not claim to be an expert in the business of running Charter Schools my investigative experience provided a good insight into the big businesses of collecting Tax Dollars for educating public school children. It is from this insight that I share the following:

In everyone of our investigative cases, the schools were set up as nonprofit organizations. Most hired management companies to oversee the day to day operation of the schools. They all had a Board of Directors, had applied for and granted a Charter to be a school from local school districts as governed by Florida State Statute 1002.33 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/. Their main source of revenue was per pupil funding – called Full Time Equivalent (FTE). Some received more funding based on student disabilities.  In every case the drive to recruit more students was the primary focus of the schools and management companies. Most schools had received additional funding from available grants and all claimed Tax Exemptions as nonprofit organizations.

In just about every case the founders of the Charter Schools had ties to the Board of Directors which authorized the hiring of the management companies to run the schools. Even worse, we discovered the owners of the management companies were either the same as the school founders or were directly connected to them.  All of which revealed major conflicts of interests in most of the decisions made on the spending of Tax Dollars and education of students.

Like the Miami Herald’s Charter Schools expose, we confirmed the common practice of management companies charging for the leasing of school site facilities, vehicles, and materials. Items that were either owned by the management company or linked to their owners.  A practice that was followed with exorbitant management fees charged for services that often could not be explained, were unjustified, or could have been done by school staff for less. In all, these companies’ rule over all matters of business resulted in the majority of the schools’ money being collected by the management company or vendors of their choice without the benefit of competitive bids.

Internally, school staff like teachers, school administrators, and other staff were generally paid less than their public school counterparts. Staff had no benefit of collective bargaining, union representation and as such were at will employees.  Teachers were commonly discovered to be teaching out of field. Interviews revealed there were individuals hired with minimal to no qualifications to teach or perform the job functions of their assignments. The majority of these schools were found to be ill equipped with teaching materials that often were substandard to those in public schools.  The lack of common resources available in public school districts was a constant...

Balere Language Academy

“Charter school building heads to foreclosure auction.” South Florida Business Journal (FL), 12/21/2012

The former home of a shuttered charter school is set for auction after Great Florida Bank won a $2.24 million foreclosure judgment.

The Miami-Dade County School Board voted in April to shut down the Balere Language Academy after parents complained of house parties with alcohol and distasteful promotions.

The Miami Lakes-based bank (Pink Sheets: GFLB) won the judgment against nonprofit Balere and loan guarantors Rocka Malik and Nagib Malik over a $1.5 million mortgage, plus interest and fees. It was also awarded judgment against Strategic Empowerment for Economic Development Corp., which provided a $1.2 million second mortgage...

==============================================

“Charter school in adult-club scandal has money woes; A party promoterthat has been scheduling boozy bashes at a troubled Miami-Dade charter schoolhas ties to the school’s principal, records show.” The Miami Herald (FL), 0/13/2011

The “Push It To Da Limit: The Flossin Edition” late-night party is still scheduled to go off Saturday night — but it won’t be at a South Miami-Dade charter school, as previously advertised.

Miami-Dade School District officials on Friday were still trying to determine whether the Balere Language Academy — a charter school already facing financial free-fall and increased school district scrutiny — has also been doubling as an after-hours nightclub.

This week district officials learned of R-rated party fliers, featuring bikini-clad women and bottles of booze, promoting a bash at 10875 Quail Roost Dr. — the address of the South Miami Heights charter school. Older ads, Twitter posts, Facebook photos and a string of parent complaints about smoky smells and empty beer bottles on campus also indicated past parties were held at the school.

Balere’s principal and founder, Rocka Malik, told The Miami Herald on Thursday that she knew nothing about any after-hours parties at her school. But records show the party promoter is tied to Malik’s husband: A phone number for the promoter comes back to a car-wash company managed by Malik’s husband, Clifton Smith, who is also a director of a pre-school at Balere. Malik and Smith did not return phone calls on Friday.

This is not the first time the school has come under fire: Last fall, school inspectors discovered that nine seventh-graders were being taught in a wooden storage shed on campus, records show. “Students had difficulty putting their legs comfortably under the desks,” district inspectors wrote in one report. When interviewed by an inspector with Miami-Dade’s building department, Malik denied that the shed was being used as a classroom, records show...

The controversy comes as Balere struggles to stay afloat amid a barrage of problems. Among them:

• A lender filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the school in June for failing to make payments on a $1.5 million mortgage — one of four mortgages on the school’s six-acre property, records show.

•  Enrollment at the K-7 school has plummeted from 255 students last October to just 82 students today, records show.

•  The school’s revenue, which comes from public tax dollars directly tied to the number of students, has shrunk from more than $2 million in 2010 to just over $1 million today. As of February, the school owed more than $100,000 to the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid payroll taxes.

•  The school has lost two principals since January, and school district officials said they cannot identify the current members of the nonprofit school’s board.

School district officials threatened to close the charter school last year, after it received an F grade from the state based on poor student test scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. But Balere appeared to make a dramatic turnaround when it raised its grade to an A this spring, winning the school a reprieve.

Yet Balere remains under scrutiny by the school district over its finances. The school had to submit a financial recovery plan to the district after two years in the red. District officials have questioned whether the school has a realistic plan to stay afloat...

District officials are now questioning how the school property is handled as well. The campus is owned by Balere, Inc., the nonprofit company that also holds the charter to operate the school. Yet Balere, Inc. leases the property to another school-related entity for $8,000 a month, according to a financial audit of the school...

REAL Prep Charter Academy

“How REAL Prep charter school spent $450,000 before problems weredetected.” The Oregonian (OR), 9/14/2011

The founder of a proposed Portland charter school was able to spend $450,000 in federal funds with little to show for it by choosing the least-regulated route to creating such a school and papering over problems when overseers checked in.

Erica Jayasuriya, a Portland mom with visions of opening a recording arts-based high school that would transform education for disengaged teens, presided as the team she assembled spent the money on planning, promotion and curriculum design -- without ever mustering enough curriculum, materials, students or equipment to open a school.

No one at Portland Public Schools, which approved Jayasuriya's proposal to open REAL Prep Charter Academy, or at the Oregon Department of Education, which awarded the nonprofit she created two $225,000 grants, took steps to stop her and her team until late August.

By then, 17 months after the money began flowing, the school was weeks from its scheduled opening and the money spent. Jayasuriya's pay took at least $68,000 of it.

State and school district officials say they understand why the public questions their failure to notice problems earlier. But they say failings were hidden from them, in part by misleading information from REAL Prep leaders and in part because Congress specified that charter school starters be allowed control over their grant spending.

"There was nothing that was said and nothing in what they submitted to us that brought our attention that they were not progressing toward opening a high quality charter school," said Susan Inman, the state's director of learning opportunity options.

Three days before school was to start Sept. 12, district officials shut REAL Prep, forcing students to scramble. More than 120 students filled out paperwork showing they wanted to attend, including 48 who officially enrolled.

Now, eight days into the district's school year, only half of the 120 students are in school. Thirty-seven are trying to get into a school that fits them and has room, while the status of 28 others is unsure because officials haven't been able to reach them...

Jayasuriya signed a detailed agreement, including to preserve financial records and get state approval if spending changed from the school budget. Unknown to state regulators, however, she was at odds with most of her own board over spending.

Eric Ensley, president of the board from its founding in May 2009 until he resigned in June 2010, said he tangled with Jayasuriya over her desire to immediately begin paying people -- including herself -- rather than first get a firm financial plan and seasoned administrator in place.

"There were manipulative tactics to try to get things approved and paid for that I didn't think should be paid for," he said. "I can't tell you how heated the debate got in the boardroom. ... To pay Joe Schmo to advocate for the school just because he knows this deejay is no way to run a school."

Ensley insisted, for example, that for Jayasuriya to become a paid employee of the school, she must step down from the board and apply for the job. In the end, Ensley and three other board members resigned, leaving Jayasuriya and two others on the board. Jayasuriya then helped hire herself and the board treasurer as paid contract employees of the school...

On Sept. 1, the problems became starkly clear. In a meeting at school district headquarters, four top school officials began arguing. The treasurer said she was ill-equipped and would resign that night. The co-director resigned during the meeting. A third leader walked out in disgust after learning there was no money left for furniture and equipment. And the list of seemingly qualified board members the district had been given was a fiction...

Academy of Arts & Minds

“Manuel Alonso-Poch Won't Fix Conflicts of Interest at His Charter School, New Audit Finds.” Miami NewTimes (FL), 12/27/2012

In June, a Miami-Dade School Board audit skewered a Coconut Grove charter school for an incestuous relationship with its founder and landlord, powerful attorney Manuel Alonso-Poch. It found Alonso-Poch was charging the Academy of Arts & Minds a suspiciously high rate for rent and had rigged its board to award contracts to his businesses.

Seven months later, Alonso-Poch is apparently still at it. A new report from the board's auditor, Jose Montes de Oca, offers evidence that Miami-Dade County Public Schools is all but powerless to address sketchy charter schools in the system...

In June, the school board found "conflicts of interest" at the school, including a "subservient" board whose chairwoman was Alonso-Poch's cousin and which also included his business partners. With the board's blessing, one of Alonso-Poch's companies won a $140,000-per-year food service contract; he also charged $860,000 annually in rent, a sum the auditor found "irregular."

The board warned the school could lose its nonprofit status without reforms.

Those changes haven't come yet, at least according to Montes de Oca... 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Audit Ordered For Coconut Grove Charter School.” CBS4 (FL), 10/19/2011

COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) – The Miami-Dade School Board ordered a forensic audit to be conducted on the Arts and Minds Academy charter school in Coconut Grove, where questions have been raised about school funding. A group of angry parents demanded the district to get involved.

The decision, reached Wednesday afternoon, will include a search for misappropriated funds, missing equipment, and possible malfeasance in following state rules set forth for publicly funded charter schools.

The district had already started an investigation into complaints students were charged illegal fees for required classes. Some parents also claim the school lacks teachers and books, and a failure of the school to conduct required background checks on employees.

“In the last six months, we have had two very experienced, well-liked principals that have left the school and cited issues with management.” said Sherri Myers, President of the Parent Teacher Students Association (PTSA) at the school.

At the center of the controversy is Manuel Alonso-Poch.

Alonso-Poch is the schools founder, owns the management company that runs the school, owns the food service company that provides breakfast and lunches to the students, and owns the building, collecting $77,000 a month in rent from taxpayers...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

“The Lima connection: How Coconut Grove charter school cuts red tape.” The Miami Herald, 10/12/2011

Whatever else in the way of criticism gets heaped on local school boards — God knows they catch hell — board members do tend to live in the general vicinity of the school district.

Which is to say, they don’t live in Peru...

Herald reporters Kathleen McGrory and Scott Hiaasen discovered that Jorge Guerra-Castro, nominally a member of the board overseeing the Academy of Arts & Minds, has lived in Lima (Peru, not Ohio) for the last six years.

Not that Guerra-Castro has knowingly ignored his responsibilities. Called by The Herald, he seemed taken aback when told that the charter school listed him as an “at large” member of the A&M board. Emphasis on “at large.”

“Very bizarre,” Guerra-Castro told The Herald. “I have no idea what’s going on.”...

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Grove charter school board meeting video gives insider peek insidegovernance and debate of Florida Sunshine laws.” Watchdog Report (FL), 08/07/2011

A parent of a local charter school in Coconut Grove started in 2004 and run by the buildings owner Manny Alonso Poch filmed a governance board meeting and the discussion allows the public to get an idea of what and how some of the 80 plus such schools are governed in Miami-Dade in the public  sunshine. The Arts and Minds Academy Charter School has been a frequent topic of the Watchdog Report since the school first went through and its creation was approved by the nation’s fourth largest public district because of this “related transaction” as it is called when a facilities owner also runs the school. In this case, the rent for the building jumped back in 2006 from $29,000 to $69,000 and currently now when maintenance is included is well over $80,000 per month. The school while academically doing well has gone through four school directors and has been the object of stories in The Miami Herald and Miami New Times along with other blogs. Here is what was sent to me last week by the person that took the video. >>> “I have uploaded the videos of the last 2 A&M Governing Board Meetings. The first meeting on 7/14 was adjourned when they realized I was videotaping. I showed them the law, explained, etc and they did not feel comfortable going forward. On the meeting on the 28th you will find a lot of interesting footage. If you do not have much time, at least view the Q and A portion. You will get a kick out of it. It is funny as they do not even know who is on their Governing Board and it is only a six member Board. All of the videos are ready. You can click on the following link and then look at all of the videos that were uploaded. There are a total of 8 (2 for the 7/14 meeting and 6 for the 7/28 meeting): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJjpx858p7Q You can also go to youtube and search aandmgbvideos and they will all come up. Videos 5 of 6 and 6 of 6 for the 7/28 meeting is the question and answer portion.”

>>> PAST WDR: MAY, 2011: Grove Arts & Mind Academy parents, in six page blistering letter to school district, light up school’s governance and criticize building owner and school founder Alonso-Poch

Parents of students at the Arts & Minds Academy located on Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove fired off a blistering highly critical letter of complaint to the Miami-Dade Public Schools administration concerning how the charter school is being run and governed that seems to only benefit financially the building’s owner and school founder Manny Alonso-Poch. The May 2 six-page letter signed by the A&M PTSA Executive Board President Carlos Deupi and other senior board members and parents to Tiffanie Pauline, the Administrative Director of charter schools in the nation’s fourth largest school district. The letter details a long list of issues, including the fact that he owns the building the school is housed, and uses it for other activities including having his law office at the site. The school created in 2004 was flagged by the Watchdog Report back then because of the building ownership issue that is known as a “related transaction.” The original monthly rent paid by the school district was $29,000 but when it expanded in 2006, that same rent jumped to around $69,000 a month, and caught the eye of the district’s inspector general and the school board’s audit committee. Poch, an attorney, at a past school board audit committee meeting explained to audit board members why the new rent was fair, but his explanation did not fly and had audit board Chair Frederick “Buck” Thornburgh, an attorney noting there “was a lot of fairy dust in the room,” after the explanation he thought...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Coconut Grove charter school owner accused of bilking taxpayers.” Miami New Times (FL), 06/09/2011

Manuel Alonso-Poch isn't just one of Miami's best-connected lawyers and a major donor to bigwigs such as Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado and his daughter, school board member Raquel Regalado — he's also been trumpeted lately as the business-savvy savior of the long-threatened Miami Marine Stadium.

So what the heck is going on over at the Academy of Arts & Minds, the Coconut Grove charter school he cofounded in 2003?

The academy's Parent Teacher Student Association sent a searing letter last month to Dade officials alleging fraud and malfeasance, including a governing board made up of relatives and lackeys that pays Alonso-Poch inflated rent.

Alonso-Poch says the complaints are hooey: "For a group of misinformed, ignorant parents who don't trust anything to attack my hard work is very offensive."

He started the school from scratch eight years ago with his partner, Ana Renteria, and has built it into an "A" school focused on creative arts. Lately he has earned headlines with a plan to build a marine exhibition center next to the languishing, graffiti-tagged stadium on Virginia Key.

But some parents say they've uncovered troubling practices at the academy, including

• a "rubber-stamp" governing board that includes Alonso-Poch's cousin and numerous business associates;

• a lease that pays Alonso-Poch $86,000 a month for a building worth only $3.4 million;

• a lucrative food services contract awarded to his own company;

• tax returns that fudge the school's cash flow.

Alonso-Poch denies the charges and provided the school's financial statements. He says his governing board is independent (but admits his cousin holds one seat) and neither he nor Renteria makes money from the school.

The rent is fair, he says, and the food services contract went through a standard bidding process. "We happened to make the best offer," he says...

Sacramento Visual and Performing Arts Charter

“Sacramento Schools Lose Charter Over Controversy.” Original publication unknown, 5/30/2007

The role of charter schools in education at Sacramento Schools is continuously emerging and evolving. Sacramento Schools have been involved in the on-going battle between privately run charters and the public systems that fund them for years. The enormous impact of this inability to form a cohesive working relationship will come to a head on June 14th when the Sacramento Visual and Performing Arts Charter (VAPAC) closes its doors.

William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts

“D.C. charter school slaps founders with lawsuit, restraining orders.” Washington Examiner, 7/5/11 

The founders of a District charter school have been in an escalating feud with the school's board of directors over control of the Northeast campus that has spawned a lawsuit and prompted a judge to slap the school's former principal with a restraining order.

But as the battle over William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts heads for a Superior Court hearing Thursday, the founders, the William E. Doar, Jr. Educational Foundation, now say they will quit the fight...

It's a stark turnaround after months of infighting between the school's board of directors and its founders, who in May claimed that they had dissolved the board of directors.

In the letter, Mary Robbins, former principal of the upper school, along with founders Nadia Casseus-Torney and Julie S. Doar-Sinkfield, charged the board chairman with "blurring the lines between management and governance of the current board as evidenced by ... his attempts to influence day to day operations, oversee personnel and management decisions around attendance, creation of a hostile work place and the attempt to exercise line item approval over school based expenditures."

The founders then told parents and teachers to ignore an emergency meeting called by the directors, dubbing it an "unauthorized and uninsured meeting of former Board members," according to the lawsuit...

Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School

“Charter's board ousts its founder: Vuong Thuy had been the subject of amonth of complaints from parents and staff about the school.” Philadelphia Inquirer 5/8/11

Vuong Thuy, the founding chief executive of an academically successful North Philadelphia charter school, was toppled by his handpicked board after a monthlong campaign by parents and staff.

The board of the Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School last week voted unanimously to remove Thuy from his leadership position after being besieged by complaints of a rodent infestation, unsanitary bathrooms, and a "toxic" climate in which staff, parents, and students were berated and demeaned.

Parents and staff also expressed concern that charter school money was being drained to represent Thuy in connection with a federal probe and a state ethics investigation.

Stephanie Johnson, who helped mobilize other parents, said she was even more shocked when the school produced a record indicating it had spent $222,000 in the last 12 months to represent Thuy in various investigations...

The investigations were spawned by a charter school report that the City Controller's Office released last spring. The controller questioned Thuy's ties to a related organization that owns Multi-Cultural's building...

The charter has a strict behavior code, focuses on preparing students for college, and boasts a record of academic success. The school has exceeded state benchmarks for four consecutive years. In 2009-10, 77 percent of 11th graders scored at grade level or higher in math, and 61.5 percent in reading...

But staff - including English teacher Seth Carter and programs coordinator Frank Mannino - said they had become increasingly disenchanted over what they described as Thuy's dictatorial leadership style, explosive temper, and demeaning behavior.

Last winter, Thuy stormed out of a meeting with parents who were concerned that a no-cellphone policy left their children unable to call for help after several students were jumped near the school.

Carter said Thuy "flipped out" and then walked out on a group of 30 people: "He never got past the first question."

At a separate schoolwide meeting, Thuy told the students, who are largely African American, that they were barred from bringing cellphones to school because they would use them to sell drugs, several staff members said.

Multi-Cultural is one of 18 local charter schools being investigated by federal authorities, according to sources with knowledge of that probe.

As a charter school official, Thuy is covered by the state ethics law, which bars conflicts of interest. He is also being investigated by the state Ethics Commission, sources at the school said...

Teachers, who said they feared losing their jobs if they spoke up or asked questions about Thuy, have signed cards indicating their interest in being represented by a union. An election is scheduled for this month...

The school's five-year charter renewal will go before the School Reform Commission during the next school year...

Parents and teachers said they had a difficult time communicating with the board. It meets only four times a year at 8 a.m., and Thuy tightly controlled access.

Carter said Thuy told staff that if they wanted to talk to the board, they would have to talk to him. He told them he would relay information to the board and then report back.

"He told parents the same thing," Mannino said...

Imagine School in the Valle

“Battle Rages Between Charter School and Management Company.” KLAS-TV 8 News (NV) 6/30/11

LAS VEGAS -- With budget battles brewing over schools and how much should be spent on them, many parents are turning to charter schools as another option. A charter school is a school that is publicly-funded by the state, but run privately by its own governing board.

Often, those schools will get help from an Education Management Organization to handle things like book-keeping and setting the curriculum. But what happens when the school decides it doesn't need the management anymore?

The Imagine School in the Valle opened in 2008, using just a few rooms at a YMCA. They had help from an EMO called Imagine that took care of hiring and accounting, and even found the school a building in Centennial Hills.

Three years later, the school's enrollment is in the hundreds and they are looking to get rid of Imagine.

"Imagine has tried to usurp our authority on many occasions, but this is the board's charter school," said school treasurer Ann Barnes...

"Imagine Schools took the financial risk, the financial up-front risk to secure that building long-term. The board is not at risk for that long term lease," said Imagine Schools co-founder Eileen Bakke...

At this point, there is no agreement between the two sides. Imagine is looking for a new school board and new kids to pay the rent on the building. The board has two years to re-up with Imagine or get out -- an option Anne Barnes says is fine with her.

"I feel relieved. I don't have to worry about the blood battles. We've had some real tough negotiations with Imagine and I'm relieved we don't have to go through that in the future," she said.

The state Board of Education says the Valle board is completely within its rights to operate the school without the management company, but they really do need a building. The possibility exists if they can't find one in two years, the school may have to dissolve, and neither side wants that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Disputed charter school can’t be barred.” Las Vegas Sun (NV) 5/1/08

Nevada Education Department officials do not want an out-of-state company opening a second charter school in the Las Vegas Valley this fall, but they can’t prevent it...

At issue is Imagine School in the Valle...

In the past few months, state education officials have become increasingly concerned about Imagine Schools’ management of the North Las Vegas campus, citing a lack of qualified teachers, poor student performance and shoddy bookkeeping.

Charter schools receive the same per-pupil state funding as traditional public campuses, and officials say there have been enough problems at 100 Academy to convince them that spending taxpayer money on another Imagine school is a bad idea.

But in October 2006, when 100 Academy was just a month old, the state Education Board approved sponsorship of Imagine School in the Valle. So far, no one’s found an escape hatch that would allow the state to cancel the sponsorship. Education officials say the situation highlights yet another problem with the way the charter school approval process works.

“There are so many holes in the system to be patched,” said State Board of Education member Cindy Reid, chairwoman of the charter schools subcommittee. “Right now, it seems we are locked into sponsorship, despite new information that’s come to us after the fact.”...

...Imagine Schools has applications pending to open two additional campuses in the Las Vegas Valley.

The Nevada Education Department is recommending rejection of both applications, citing “serious deficiencies,” including Imagine’s shaky track record both locally and in other states. The charter schools subcommittee meets today, with a full board vote set for Saturday.

In October, the Clark County School Board considered revoking 100 Academy’s charter, but backed off when Imagine Schools forgave $285,000 in debt the school owed for its management. School Board members said they weren’t pleased that 100 Academy was spending 25 percent of its per-pupil funding — $1.2 million — on rent. The landlord is School House Finance LLC, an affiliate of Imagine Schools. Board members also wanted 100 Academy’s principal to report to the governing body, rather than be an Imagine Schools employee...