#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
Madera charter school audit reveals misuse of $1million in funds
An audit report has revealed potential misuse of $1.06 million in public funds at Ezequiel Tafoya Alvarado Academy, a charter school in Madera, California.The report alleges various instances of misappropriation, including $38,000 spent to finance thehigher education expenses and the purchase of two Ford F-150 Raptors for the sons of ex-executive director Nicolas Retana, costing $80,000.
John Zitzner, co-founder of Cleveland’s Breakthrough Charter Schools, arrested as part of statewide human trafficking operation
Court records show that Zitzner was arrested on Sept. 28 in Westlake and charged with engaging in prostitution. He had his initial court appearance on Monday and is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 10.
16 years later, no trial date set for California Charter Academy case
In 2007, Tad Honeycutt and Charles Steven Cox were charged with misappropriating $5.5 million in charter school funds
Charter school’s closure after Indiana count day could leave others without proper funding
The closure of the Vanguard Collegiate charter school four days after the statewide “count day” used to determine each school’s funding could leave students’ new schools without accurate state funding.
Failing grades
But in Indiana and elsewhere, some of the schools run by Virginia-based Imagine Schools and the Michigan-based Leona Group are not performing as well as the public schools to which they were intended to offer an alternative.
Judge shutters troubled Charleston charter school
Chief Administrative Law Judge Ralph King Anderson II on Sept. 26 ordered the school to “immediately cease and desist all operations as a public charter school …. CAA, its board and administration are prohibited from spending any further public money, whether state or federal, directly or indirectly except as required to comply with this order.”
Why a proposed charter school failed to make the grade in Springfield
School Committee member Christopher Collins questioned the dropout rate numbers in Guy’s presentation. About one third or more of the 1,295 students cited are the same person, he said, because the system counts a student each time they re-enroll. That makes the pool of students the charter would draw from smaller, running the risk of appealing to students enrolled in alternative district programs, Collins said.
Michigan Charter Schools Face Scrutiny After Taking Billions in Public Funds
“Fundamentally, as a government, we should not be giving money to for-profit entities not even knowing how they’re spending it. But we do it with the (charter) schools,” said state Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Beverly Hills). “We don’t ask them what they’re doing with the money.”
Auditor: Board should improve charter school financial oversight
The board that oversees charter schools in Arizona isn’t doing enough to ensure schools’ financial viability, according to the state auditor general. In a report released Tuesday, the Arizona Auditor General found that the methods used by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools to evaluate school finances are not always adequate to pinpoint financial struggles that could cause schools to close midyear, leaving students and families scrambling.
Fraud at local charter school: Wrapping it up
A full accounting of the alleged fraud by Nicholas Retana, former Executive Director of the ETAA Charter School, in the amount of $1,062,590.49, is impossible to report in a single issue of the Tribune.
Cary charter school illegally retaliated against math teacher, federal ALJ rules
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has ruled that Cardinal Charter Academy in Cary engaged in illegal, retaliatory actions when it fired a math teacher who made “protected disclosures,” claiming the school did not provide students with the special education services their Individual Education Plans required.
Gary Rubinstein: Will U.S. News Ban KIPP from Its Rankings Again, for Cheating?
Gary Rubinstein writes here about KIPP’s clever tactics to win a listing as one of the “best” high schools in New York State. He caught them playing similar games several years ago, and U.S. News heard about it and removed KIPP from its rankings.
Unaccountable: Shakopee accountant under investigation for alleged $42,000 theft from Hmong charter school
The Anton Group, a St. Paul–based accounting firm, provided services to one in five Minnesota charter schools in 2022, but dissolved in wake of the alleged fraud. Neal Thao, the CEO of Noble Academy, said charter schools should “look at their accounts very carefully.”
The School Bell Rings at New Charter School With No Contract, No Site Consultation and the Opposition of the Community
Paradiso College Preparatory skipped the site consultation it was required to complete before getting the permit to run the school in Río Piedras, an action Mayor Miguel Romero called “highly irregular.”
Paradiso College Preparatory Charter School’s Operation in Río Piedras Put On Hold
The limited liability corporation that purchased and remodeled the building in Río Piedras accepted that the permit obtained is invalid.