EPIC Academy Charter School

“Ex-basketball coach pleads not guilty to sex assault, wants lower bond.”FOX32, 3/12/2013

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“Bond set for coach accused of student sex assault.” WLS-TV (IL), 1/25/2013

January 25, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Bond has been set at $500,000 for a basketball coach at EPIC Academy Charter School in Chicago accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student he offered a ride home.

Police say Kevin Jones, 33, was giving the victim a ride home from school when he assaulted her in the car. He had also given a second girl a ride home, but she left before the alleged assault took place, police said.

Jones, who is a husband and a father of two, faces two counts of criminal sex assault, and one count of attempted criminal sexual assault. He coached the varsity boys basketball team.

He has been suspended from EPIC...

"There were other instances of inappropriate incidences by the coach," [Brad Cosgrove, victim's attorney] said...

Jones also worked as a physical education teacher at LEARN Charter Schoolon the South Side. On Friday, he was fired from that job...

Jones is the process of getting his master's degree and is a deacon at his church...

An attorney for EPIC Charter School said the school is cooperating with police and prosecutors. The South Side charter school opened in 2009...

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Noble Network of Charter Schools

“Chicago charter schools rake in thousands in 'disciplinary fees.'” MSNBC, 1/3/2013

As public funding for Chicago charter schools increases, so do questions about accountability and governance within these publicly-funded–but privately-run–institutions.

According to the Chicago Public Schools’ 2013 budget, charter schools will receive nearly $483 million in funding, up more than 13% from funding in 2012. The resources are significant for the expanding charter school network within the city–particularly Noble Network of Charter Schools–which serves nearly 8,000 students across a dozen campuses. The organization’s most recent non-profit filing shows that Noble receives the lion’s share of CPS funds allocated to charter schools, and they are expected to receive $69.9 million in 2013.

But a recent report raises red flags on the lack of accountability at one of Noble’s charter schools. Marsha Godard, a parent at Chicago Bulls College Prep, told DNAinfo Chicagothat she paid nearly $2,000 in fees to keep her son at school...

Godard’s son was fined for various offenses, including an unkempt appearance and not making eye contact. Other items in Noble’s strict student code include ”chewing gum, possessing soft drinks or energy drinks like Red Bull, eating chips, not tucking in a shirt after being warned and carrying a permanent marker.”

This is not the first time the Noble Network has received criticism for the fees. In February, parents protested the Noble Network for charging fees as disciplinary action. According to the Chicago Tribune, Noble raked in approximately $200,000 in disciplinary fees  in 2011 and almost $400,000 since the 2008-09 school year...

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LEARN Charter School

“Ex-basketball coach pleads not guilty to sex assault, wants lower bond.” FOX32, 3/12/2013

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“Bond set for coach accused of student sex assault.” WLS-TV (IL), 1/25/2013

(CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Bond has been set at $500,000 for a basketball coach at EPIC Academy Charter School in Chicago accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student he offered a ride home.

Police say Kevin Jones, 33, was giving the victim a ride home from school when he assaulted her in the car. He had also given a second girl a ride home, but she left before the alleged assault took place, police said.

Jones, who is a husband and a father of two, faces two counts of criminal sex assault, and one count of attempted criminal sexual assault. He coached the varsity boys basketball team.

He has been suspended from EPIC...

"There were other instances of inappropriate incidences by the coach," [Brad Cosgrove, victim's attorney] said...

Jones also worked as a physical education teacher at LEARN Charter School on the South Side. On Friday, he was fired from that job...

Jones is the process of getting his master's degree and is a deacon at his church...

An attorney for EPIC Charter School said the school is cooperating with police and prosecutors. The South Side charter school opened in 2009...

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UNO Charter Schools

“More money from clout-heavy Hispanic group UNO went to insider.” Chicago Sun Times (IL), 4/22/2013

Weeks after Federico “Fred” d’Escoto stepped down from the board of the United Neighborhood Organization, his company, d’Escoto Inc., got its first check from the influential charter-school operator toward what now totals more than $1.8 million in state-funded payments.

But d’Escoto Inc.’s ties to UNO — part of a pattern of insider hiring now under scrutiny by state authorities — date back years before that, internal documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

The private, not-for-profit organization already had been using d’Escoto’s Chicago construction-management company for three years to do rehabilitation work on its largely taxpayer-funded charter schools, the records show.

And it did so even as d’Escoto was a member of UNO’s board and while his brother Miguel d’Escoto was both a top executive at UNO and a member of d’Escoto Inc.’s board, state and city government documents show...

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“New schools meet old school cronyism ...” Chicago Tribune (IL), 2/22/2013

... The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that much of a $98 million state grant given to UNO to build schools was funneled to companies that have deep connections to the organization's political allies and a top UNO executive, Miguel d'Escoto. Shortly after the story broke, d'Escoto resigned.

D'Escoto Inc., a company owned by Miguel d'Escoto's brother Federico, reaped more than $1.5 million for work as the "owner's representative" in the construction of several schools.

Reflection Window Co., owned by another d'Escoto brother, Rodrigo, stands to earn nearly $10 million for work on several schools.

Plumbing contracts went to a company owned by the sister of Victor Reyes, the clout-heavy lawyer and lobbyist who helped UNO snag the state grant.

UNO hired Aguila Security, a firm run by two brothers of state Rep. Edward Acevedo, a longtime UNO ally who voted to approve the UNO grant in 2009...

At first, UNO chief executive Juan Rangel defended the contracts, saying he hired Hispanic-owned companies that "have proven themselves."

In recent days Rangel has acknowledged his organization has a serious problem. He has suspended UNO's contract with d'Escoto Inc., while UNO reviews its contracting practices. He has brought on former U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen to review how UNO picked companies to build its schools. He accepted the resignation of Miguel d'Escoto...

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"Ald. Solis: Insider charter-school deals were 'improper.'” Chicago Sun-Times (IL), 2/13/2013

Ald. Danny Solis (25th) — a co-founder and former head of the United Neighborhood Organization — said Wednesday he thinks it was “improper, at the very least,” for the politically influential organization to use a $98 million state school grant to hire contractors with close ties to the leadership of UNO’s charter-school network.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that UNO’s insider deals included giving contracts paid for by the state grant to companies owned by two brothers of Miguel d’Escoto, the group’s No. 2 executive until he resigned Tuesday from his $200,000-a-year post as senior vice president of operations in the fallout from that revelation...

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“For insiders, community group UNO's charter schools pay.” Chicago Sun-Times (IL), 2/4/2013

Built in 2011 with $25 million from Illinois taxpayers, the curvy, stainless-steel structure that houses the UNO Soccer Academy Elementary Charter School leaps out from the neighboring landscape of boxy brick houses on the Southwest Side.

The school on South Homan Avenue isn’t just eye-catching. It has provided opportunities for working-class, Hispanic parents who want an alternative to crowded, poorly performing public schools for their children, says the head of the United Neighborhood Organization, the increasingly influential group that built and operates the school.

But the way it and other UNO schools were built also has provided a financial boon to people close to the group’s leaders, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show...

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ASPIRA, Inc. of Illinois

“ASPIRA charter school CEO fired.” Chicago Sun-Times (IL), 3/28/2012

The controversial president of ASPIRA charter schools was fired late Monday evening during a stormy board meeting that included a chorus of community protests about ASPIRA’s management...

[ASPIRA CEO Jose Rodriguez] is no stranger to controversy...More recently, under Rodriguez’s leadership, ASPIRA schools were investigated in 2008 for strip-searching high school girls and altering grades.

But in the end, according to sources, it was the test scores of ASPIRA students that led to Rodriguez’s dismissal. ASPIRA students have underperformed Chicago Public Schools averages for at least the last six years, according Illinois Report Card data...

...ASPIRA operates three high schools and one middle school.

Samantha Kipp, an ASPIRA teacher and council president of the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, presented a litany of complaints to the board, including a lack of resources such as textbooks and computers and administrators showing disrespect to teachers in front of students...

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Prairie Crossing Charter School

“Fired principal sues Prairie Crossing Charter School.” Daily Herald (IL), 3/20/2012

Former Prairie Crossing Charter School principal Brian Greene has filed a lawsuit contending his firing in December was based on false claims against him by Director Nigel Whittington and two others.

Greene’s attorney, Anthony Esposito of Libertyville, filed the suit Tuesday in Lake County circuit court. More than $50,000 in damages are sought from the Grayslake public choice school for claims including breach of contract, defamation, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Court documents state Whittington made bogus claims against Greene in a letter last Nov. 29 recommending the principal’s dismissal. Whittington falsely stated Greene disclosed the substance of confidential teacher union negotiations to a parent and lied about the completion of curriculum maps, the suit says.

The lawsuit also contends false comments by former Prairie Crossing board member Mark Dybas and his wife, school spokeswoman Dilrukshi Dybas, were used by Whittington as part of his ouster. The Dybases have a child who attends the school...

Along with the charter school, Whittington, the Dybases and all board members were named individually.

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FEUDING CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD SEEKS GUIDANCE FROM STATE. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 13 Aug 2007; 

Prairie Crossing Charter School's board president says she doesn't want bickering among her colleagues to hurt education there, so she's asked a state agency for help.

Temporary legal advice and oversight for the elected officials at the suburbs' only charter school is on the way from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Representatives from the state are expected to meet with officials at the Grayslake public school this week. In part, the board wants state guidance on "acceptable standards for civil behavior."…

In the past month or so, the following incidents have occurred at Prairie Crossing, which is the suburbs' only charter school:

- Board member John Rizzo leveled accusations against a colleague. After some board members tried to quiet him, Rizzo went into the audience and said he'd continue speaking as a parent, not an official.

At one point, board member Kim Vander Yacht demanded Rizzo's removal from the meeting room.

- Wiens and three others tried to oust board member Laura Elizabeth Fay as treasurer. Wiens contended Fay overstepped her bounds. The moved failed in a 4-4 vote.

Fay said her opponents were upset she reported the school had a "precarious cash flow."

- Director Myron Dagley issued a memo stating a "hostile and ugly" office atmosphere created by a board member prompted three employees to threaten to quit.

State board of education officials hope this week's meeting creates a better understanding between the feuding board members, spokesman Matt Vanover said…

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HOSTILITY AT THE CHARTER SCHOOL? DIRECTOR TRIES TO STOP RESIGNATIONS OVER ONE BOARD MEMBER. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 24 Jul 2007

Prairie Crossing Charter School's director says a "hostile and ugly" office atmosphere created by a board member has triggered the pending resignations of at least three administrators.

Myron Dagley, the director and top administrator, issued a memo last week stating Prairie Crossing is "dead in the water" if the employees suddenly quit…

Dagley didn't name the board member he contends is causing problems or the employees who want to quit. He said the pending resignations of three or possibly four staffers stem from personal attacks and accusations of inappropriate actions spread by the board member…

He said the board member at issue has created a "hostile and ugly work environment," prompting his friends to ask if Prairie Crossing Charter School is a "crazy place."

Administrators subjected to the rumors and innuendo live in the Grayslake area and have been confronted by residents about such "tripe" while in the community, Dagley said…

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COST OF CHARTER SCHOOL LAND DEAL QUESTIONED. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 16 Nov 2006

At least one board member at Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake is frustrated with one of its co-founders, who sold land to a nearby private Montessori program for $10.

Prairie Crossing board member John Rizzo of Gurnee said it would have been good if the charter school had received a similar $10 deal from Victoria Ranney. She was a founding board member when the public charter school opened in 1999.

Ranney is president of Prairie Holdings Corp., which developed the namesake subdivision where the charter school was built. The public school borrowed $2.3 million to buy its buildings and property from Prairie Holdings.

"If we were not paying debt service (like interest) on $2.3 million," Rizzo said, "we'd be in much better shape than we are now."

However, Ranney said Wednesday that Rizzo's reasoning was unfair. Lake Forest Montessori School broke ground last week for a building on a Prairie Crossing organic farm site that it purchased for $10.

"The situation is not comparable," Ranney said.

Ranney said she won't be drawn into any effort to pit the two schools against each other because her family has put its support behind both institutions…

Financial woes recently led Prairie Crossing's interim director to say officials must consider reducing staff and halting almost all spending in discretionary accounts so the school can live within its means.

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PETITION ASKS FOR ELECTED BOARD APPOINTED MAJORITY UNDER FIRE ON PRAIRIE CROSSING'S SCHOOL BOARD. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 17 May 2006

Whether Grayslake's Prairie Crossing Charter School is better off with a nine-member board that consists of mostly appointed members was up for debate Tuesday night.

Six of Prairie Crossing's board members are appointed and three elected by parents. A petition with about 120 signatures presented at Tuesday's board meeting contends Prairie Crossing should become more democratic and have six of the nine board members elected by parents.

Proponents of the current structure say Prairie Crossing is a nonprofit corporation unlike traditional school districts and needs a board that selects most of its members with the right expertise…

Todd Lemmon represented those who want a board mostly elected by Prairie Crossing parents. He said that would lead to better representation and accountability.

"It just goes right to the heart of good corporate governance in a democracy," Lemmon said.

However, parent Steve Barg said Prairie Crossing's board works well under the current system and that a majority of elected members could tamper with the "unique, innovative and different" charter school. He also questioned the petition submitted by Lemmon.

"I've heard from several parents who feel they were pressured into signing (the petition), and now regret that they did," Barg said…

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Choir Academy of Chicago Charter School

SONGS FADING AT CHOIR ACADEMY: $500,000 DEFICIT FORCING CHARTER SCHOOL TO CLOSE; November 20, 2008; Chicago Tribune (IL)

In the cramped main office of the Choir Academy of Chicago Charter School a photo shows off beaming choir students singing in the grassy infield of U.S. Cellular Field as fans crowd the stands behind them…

The snapshots will stand as highlights for the 7-year-old school, whose leaders Thursday told more than 30 parents and their children that a $500,000 budget deficit is forcing them to close the doors at the end of the school year…

The coed school, modeled after New York's Boys Choir of Harlem Academy, had been struggling for at least a year. Last May, it had to enlist school leaders, teachers, and parents to raise funds to pay for teacher health benefits and salaries.

The financial problems stem partly from a move made last year from a nearby Catholic school to its current location at 3630 S. Wells St., where it shares space with Abbott Elementary School. After the move, enrollment dropped from 200 students and now stands at 140 students, Muldrow said.

The enrollment drop meant the school lost some state funding…

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