Franklin High & Franklin Arts Academy

EX-SCHOOL WORKER TO REPAY $50K; February 8, 2007; The Arizona Republic

A former employee of Franklin High in Mesa has agreed to repay nearly $50,000 for office supplies that were purchased with school funds but never arrived on campus, according to Gilbert police.

Police began investigating the purchase of the office supplies by Jesse Bowler after the school reported the situation in November…

The board reached an accord with Bowler last month in which he agreed to repay the cost of the office supplies, said Gilbert Detective Chris Wakefield. Bowler apparently is taking out an equity loan to repay the money, Wakefield said.

Franklin High shut down in November after state education officials caught the charter school with an inflated enrollment, prompting the state to pull its funding for November.

An internal audit of Franklin High's finances revealed the alleged misuse of funds by Bowler, who was fired.

Franklin High shut its doors Nov. 22 because it lacked the money to meet payroll obligations, according to a letter sent from Jerry Stansbury, executive direct of Franklin High and Franklin Arts Academy, to Kristen Jordison, then executive director of the state Board for Charter Schools.

The staff of the state Board for Charter Schools is investigating Franklin Arts Academy's enrollment, which was overstated by at least 267 students. It also appears the state Attorney General's Office could be looking into the academy's enrollment problems, or at least was asked to do so…