George Washington Carver Academy

EX-TREASURER OF HIGHLAND PARK CHARTER SCHOOL CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT; March 11, 2011; The Detroit News (MI) 

Highland Park— The former treasurer of a charter school has been charged with embezzlement for allegedly writing herself a $25,000 check on behalf of the school to buy a house in Detroit.

Attorney General Bill Schuette announced today the felony embezzlement charge was filed against Shantell Bell, formerly of George Washington Carver Academy, which has 527 students.

A Michigan State Police investigation revealed Bell allegedly wrote the check to an Ohio title company and recorded the expense as "textbooks" for the kindergarten through eighth-grade school. She was arraigned Friday in Highland Park's 30th District Court on one count of embezzlement over $20,000. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $75,000 fine…

According to Schuette, Bell had said Platinum Title Services was a textbook company. In reality, it was the company used to complete the real estate transaction.

Bell's former boyfriend reported the theft to authorities and the investigation began, Schuette said…

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AFTER CHEATING SCANDAL, SCHOOL LEARNS LESSONS IN TAKING TESTS; March 10, 2011; USA Today, 

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — The teachers and principal at George Washington Carver Academy, a charter school here, have learned firsthand what happens when an official probe concludes that the staff cheated on a standardized test.

Monitors sent by the Michigan Department of Education have watched over teachers here for the past two years as state tests have been administered. As a group, teachers have been forced to review, line by line, all of the state's testing rules…

Educators at Carver cheated on the tests in many ways, stopping just short of giving students the answers, the state investigation found. Plastic-wrapped exams were opened days before the state allowed, so students could be coached. Teachers gave students hints during the exams in classrooms where interior windows were covered with paper to keep anyone from looking inside. And when students asked questions, teachers showed them how to get the right answer, the state said…

"We had the test booklet," a fifth-grader told investigators about the writing test. The teacher "was teaching us how to do it. It was nice and clear."

A fourth-grader called the test "pretty easy" because the teacher "gave us ideas for the topic sentence and the ending sentence. ... She was trying to help us do our best."…