#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
Lawmakers calling for state audit of charter school approved for West Springfield
A pair of state lawmakers are asking for an audit of the Chicopee-based Hampden Charter School of Science to learn how the taxpayer-funded school spends its money.
State to close New Mexico’s largest online charter school
New Mexico’s top education official has decided to not renew the charter for an online school, citing its failure to live up to its touted potential.
Charter school founders, facing restitution in embezzlement case, drop price on mansion by $1M
The Cluffs, a husband-and-wife duo who admitted to embezzling $2.6 million in school-related funds and failing to disclose the money on federal tax returns, are seeking buyers for their six-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot estate as they try to pay back the government and local victims
Virtual charter high school serving 2000 students closing in June
The closing will impact about 1,900 of the 2,100 at-risk students enrolled in the statewide school. Ten percent of the 2,100 students are on track to earn diplomas in June.
IDAHO’S VIRTUAL SCHOOLS STRUGGLE
The more than 6,000 students enrolled in Idaho’s virtual schools perform well below their brick-and-morter peers on an array of academic performance indicators, from standardized tests to high school graduation rates.
Former Academy of Dover principal gets year in prison; must pay $145,480
A former charter school principal who pleaded guilty to stealing federal funding from the Academy of Dover will serve a year and a month in prison and must pay $145,480 in restitution.
The Price of Whistleblowing
In April 2015, Inweekly reported that Newpoint High, one of Escambia County’s high-performing charter schools, had been accused of fixing grades, failing to report possible child abuse to state authorities and mishandling funds.
CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINTS PILING UP AGAINST RESPECTED THORNTON CHARTER SCHOOL
Stargate Charter School in Thornton has an award-winning reputation when it comes to educating gifted students in Colorado. But some current and former parents tell 9NEWS that the school’s image needs repair after seven complaints were filed in the last two years with the Office of Civil Rights inside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Second Victory Prep charter school to close after running out of money
Less than 2 months after Houston ISD in-district charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closed after running out of money, Victory Prep South notified Houston ISD officials that it does not have the funds to finish out the school year.
Eagle Arts principals resign as charter school withholds teachers’ pay
Eagle Arts Academy’s two principals resigned Monday and several teachers threatened to quit after the Wellington charter school withheld paychecks last week and the school revealed that employees will not be paid for at least another week.
ATLANTA CHARTER SCHOOL UNDER FIRE FOR BLACKFACE DEPICTION
An Atlanta charter school is under fire for conveying blackface masks while reciting a historic African-American poem that symbolizes black oppression.
Sentencing set for Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School founder Nick Trombetta
The July 10 sentencing will come nearly five years after Trombetta, 62, was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of tax fraud and conspiracy in August 2013. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS in August 2016.
Florida lawmakers’ wives on new charter school boards
Though far removed geographically from each other, two new Florida charter schools share an uncommon feature: They both have a board member who is married to a state lawmaker heavily involved in crafting state policy on charter schools.
Carpe Diem charter school closing this year, displacing 200 students and teachers
Carpe Diem Preparatory Academy in College Hill is closing its door at the end of the school year, displacing about 200 students and teachers.
Losing students and money to Sturbridge charter school, Southbridge asks for legislative aid
“The Southbridge school district has been taken over by the state, and then the state allowed a charter school to come in right next door and siphon off kids from a school district that was already losing kids,” Mr. Durant remarked.