SMART Charter School

“Financial problems close three charter schools in Broward.” The Miami Herald (FL), 9/14/2012

Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.

The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.

But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.

“We should have had way more time to look for other schools for our kids,” said Nicole Williams, whose son Alfonso was a 10th-grader at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, one of the three schools now closed. Also closing this week were the nearby SMART Charter School (run by the same company as Eagle Charter), and Touchdowns4life Charter School in Tamarac, which was founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby.

Williams said the school sent her a notification letter on Wednesday...

Broward school district officials said Eagle and SMART shut down because of shrinking enrollment, and district spokeswoman Tracy Clark said Touchdowns4life’s closure was due to “funding” issues — likely also enrollment-related, since charter schools are funded almost entirely based on the number of students who attend...

Annual audits for all three schools show deep financial troubles...

The parent company of Eagle and SMART, according to the most recent audit, owed a $1.2 million debt to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes...

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“Three Broward County charter schools abruptly close.”Sun Sentinel (FL), 9/14/2012

Three Broward County charter schools abruptly closed this week, leaving parents scrambling and exposing a potential dark side to schools designed to be appealing alternatives to traditional public schools.

Touchdowns4Life, a financially troubled school in Tamarac founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby, closed its doors Tuesday. On Wednesday, Eagle Charter Academy and SMART Charter School, both operated by the same company, informed parents they would close their doors and gave parents until Friday to pick up student records.

All three cited low enrollment as the cause. Neither parents nor the Broward County School District, which issues the charter contract to the schools, say they received any notice before this week that the schools were on the verge of closing...

The sudden closure of the three schools has also raised questions about who oversees them. Neither parents nor the school district, which contracts with the schools, had prior warning, said district spokeswoman Tracy Clark...