#ANOTHERDAYANOTHERCHARTERSCHOOLSCANDAL
Sarasota School Board denies for-profit charter application for school near Wellen Park
Amid chants from protesters outside, the Sarasota County School Board unanimously denied a plan for a new for-profit charter school at its meeting Tuesday.
With the vote, the for-profit College Preparatory Academy at Wellen Park will not move forward. Charter Schools USA, the Fort Lauderdale-based company responsible for the application, now has the option to appeal the board’s decision to the Florida State Board of Education.
Loaded guns found at Parkland, Florida school belong to principal: report
Somerset Parkland Academy school representatives sent a letter to parents saying a closed box containing two firearms was left unattended inside a locked room in the school. The box was found by a school resource officer and turned over to detectives, the report said.
Investigators later determined the weapons belonged to the school’s principal, Geyler Castro.
Dismal reading scores still plague Jefferson County as the district prepares for a public sector takeover
Just over half of Florida’s third-graders passed the latest reading assessment. But the Jefferson County School District remains at the bottom for reading proficiently in the state for the second year in a row. These scores come as the district’s charter school operator prepares to hand oversight of the district back to local officials at the end of June.
State auditor finds numerous issues at now-closed rural charter school
Key findings of the audit include Bridges Academy falsifying student enrollment records to obtain $404,971 in state funding for which it was not entitled and misuse of $78,576 of charter school funding to support a preschool.
University Heights Charter School Announces State Intends to Revoke its Charter
University Heights Charter School announced that the state Department of Education intends to revoke the school’s charter at the end of the school year.
Where is the accountability?’ for WA’s largest charter school chain, ask parents and staff
KUOW’s investigation revealed a charter school chain that state officials have allowed to grow rapidly even as, staff allege, it failed to identify and serve students with disabilities, offered little to English language learners, and where crowded classrooms are largely led by inexperienced teachers without the usual credentials. Many students were recommended to repeat a grade based on test scores.
Residents speak for, against Ascent Classical Academy Durango
Some critics of Ascent pointed to its connection with Hillsdale College, a private Christian college in Michigan, and said they weren’t comfortable with Ascent taking policy, faculty and administrative guidance from the private school.
San Diego County Collects Millions in Fines from Charter School Fraud Case
More than $37 million in fines has been paid to San Diego County as part of a court judgment stemming from a charter school fraud scheme that took millions in public school funds and led to criminal charges against 11 people, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
San Diego County gets $18.8M more restitution for A3 charter school scam
An additional $18.8 million has been paid to San Diego County as restitution for the statewide A3 charter school scam in which the state was defrauded of hundreds of millions of school dollars, the San Diego County District Attorney announced Wednesday.
Wahiawa charter school’s decision on student laptops angers some parents
A public charter school in Wahiawa is facing backlash from some parents who were told laptops provided to students as part of a remote learning program would need to be returned.
The Public Charter School Commission is looking into the concerns.
Parent Kelly Olayan said the school is reneging on a promise to let the students keep digital devices.
The promise of a good education, a KUOW investigation
There’s a lot weighing on the promise of a good education. Employability, creativity, and language acquisition – to name a few.
Impact Public Schools, the largest public charter school chain in Washington state made a promise to parents and students to provide a good education and more. According to a recent KUOW investigation they are not fulfilling that promise.
ISAAC charter school’s probationary period extended as investigations into school mount
The probationary period for a Connecticut charter school has been extended for at least seven months. This comes a year after the state found that the school was out of compliance with state laws and the school’s board was unable to provide effective leadership. Now our Accountability Project has found that the school’s accrediting agency is investigating the school’s climate and culture after former teachers complained of what they call a toxic work environment.
NC charter school will close after reporting ‘financial irregularities’ to police
One of the longest-operating North Carolina charter schools will close, after officials there found financial irregularities that they’ve since reported to law enforcement. The North Carolina State Board of Education approved the closure without opposition Thursday. The Learning Center, in Murphy in Cherokee County, had requested to voluntarily relinquish its charter.
State board members learned during closed session this week that school officials believed a new school director, who was not named, had misused public funds received by the school toward their own “private enterprise,” Board Member Amy White said before the vote.
A KUOW investigation shows area charter schools broke their promises to parents and students
For the last six months, KUOW reporter Ann Dornfeld has been investigating the largest chain of charter schools in the region: Impact Public Schools. What she’s found is that charter schools are frequently failing to live up to the promises they’ve made to students, leaving staff, students, and parents frustrated.
A Seattle-area charter school’s controversial approach to holding students back
Three teachers told KUOW that they’ve had up to one-third of their students on the “promotion in doubt” list.
Impact said that its grade-retention practice is meant to ensure students master the material. Parents make the ultimate decision about whether to hold a child back, they said, and ultimately, only nine returning students — fewer than 3% — “chose to repeat a grade” in 2021.