Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School (Oklahoma)

“Charter school teacher accused of molesting student.” KOCO (OK), 2/26/2013

OKLAHOMA CITY —A teacher at a charter school in Oklahoma City has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old student, according to court documents.

Pascal Wayne Jones, 42, of Edmond, has been charged with 10 counts of forcible oral sodomy, five counts of rape by instrumentation and 10 counts of lewd acts with a child under 16 years old.

The girl told Oklahoma City police detectives that the molestation started in Nov. 2011 when Jones "touched her breasts" while she was a student at the Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School located at 1537 NE 24th St.

The victim told detectives that she performed several sexual acts on Jones until May 2012.

During the course of the investigation, detectives said, Jones was arrested on suspicion of stalking the victim at her new high school.

According to court documents, the charter school's principal held a meeting with staff to discuss the allegations in 2012. Police also conducted a failure-to-protect investigation into the school...

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“Oklahoma City School Board votes to close charter school.” The Oklahoman (OK), 5/13/2013

... District administrators allege poor academics and financial mismanagement. An attorney for the school said that's not the case. Both sides called foul on the other's interpretation of test scores...

Hunt presented state testing numbers comparing Marcus Garvey to the other charter schools with similar demographics. Some numbers were similar, but others were drastically different...

Kwame Mumina, an attorney speaking on behalf of Marcus Garvey, said the statistics weren't fair...

School officials don't follow state law when it comes to tracking and paying for school expenses, said Jean Bostwick, a controller in the district finance department.

The school district was paying for meals at the school, but the school was also receiving federal funds for those same meals.

Instead of using the federal funds to pay the school district back, the school kept the money. When district officials pointed out the problem, the school eventually paid it all back. But it didn't have all $92,000 on hand.

Board member Phil Horning said that points to misspending...

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Gulen charter schools in Oklahoma

STATE	# ACTIVE	# PENDING	# INACTIVE*	TOTAL
OK	4	0	0	4

* Denied, withdrawn, closed, or unknown status

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TOTAL ENROLLMENT IN 2010-2011 = 1557 STUDENTS

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SCHOOLS

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY-TULSA
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2000
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Langston University (in exchange for 5% of the school’s funding). Tulsa Public Schools was the original sponsor but denied DSA’s renewal in 2009.
Location/District	280 South Memorial Drive, Tulsa /Tulsa Public Schools
Website	http://dsatulsa.org/
Enrollment	Grades 6-12; 2010-11 enrollment = 395
Notes	In 2005, TPS ordered the school to stop screening students. http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/223280/charter_school_revises_practice/index.html ; the Tulsa school board unanimously voted to deny renewal in October 2009 (“Citing concerns about services for special education students...” etc.), then gave the school a one year extension; http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20091026_298_0_Citing976068 Principal: Abidin Erez

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY-OKC
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2001
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Oklahoma City Public Schools
Location/District	919 Northwest 23rd Street, Oklahoma City / Oklahoma City Public Schools
Website	http://www.dsaokc.org/
Enrollment	Grades 6-12; 2010-11 enrollment = 458
Notes	Principal: Barbaras Aslan; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY ELEMENTARY-OKC
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2008
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Oklahoma City Public Schools
Location/District	4901 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City / Oklahoma City Public Schools
Website	http://www.dsaelementary.org/
Enrollment	Grade K-5; 2010-11 enrollment = 304
Notes	Principal: Hasan Suzuk; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz

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DISCOVERY SCHOOL OF TULSA
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2009
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Langston University
Location	4821 South 72nd East Avenue, Tulsa
Website	http://www.discoveryok.org/
Enrollment	Grades K-8; 2010-11 enrollment = 400
Notes	Principal: Fevzi Simsek; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz (2011) http://sde.state.ok.us/Schools/CharterSch/pdf/CharterSchCon.pdf

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MANAGEMENT

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SKY FOUNDATION, INC. dba DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY
Federal Tax ID	EIN 731578930
Website	None
History	Schools chartered “by Turkish immigrants studying at Oklahoma State University.” (The Oklahoman, 1/1/2006); “...the founders of the school had the vision of creating a place that emphasized math and science...” (NewsOK, 3/28/2011);
Individuals involved	Names appearing on Sky Foundation Form 990s (2002-2009): Birol Furat, Birol Ozturk, A.Y. [Ali Yavuz] Zeybek, Elvan Ceyhan, Fevzi Simsek, Gultekin Kaya, Hakan Yagci, Halil Ibrahim Tas, Hasan Buzuk, Ihsan Kara, Ilhan Guzey, Can Topuz, Kamil Celik, Orhan Kucukosman, Volkan Cicek, Ilker Gure, Yalcin Akyildiz, Zekeriya Yuksel, and Zeynei Gunay.
Notes	Until 2009, the Form 990s listed the address is 4444 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City. Also listed at this address is the Oklahoma City branch of Raindrop Turkish House, a regional Gulenist “cultural” organization.

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PARTNER ORGANIZATION

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COSMOS FOUNDATION / HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Federal Tax ID	EIN 76-0615245
Website	http://www.cosmostx.org/
Services	Cosmos gets 3% of the Sky Foundation’s annual state funding because of their “Support Service Agreement.”
Individuals involved	Names appearing on IRS Form 990s (2002 to 2009): Ali Tekin, Bilal Akin, Burhanettin Kuruscu, Cengizhan Keskin, Cocksun Cetinkaya, Ellen A. MacDonald, Fatih Yigit, Gokturk Tunc, Ibrahim Sel, Iker Gure, Ismet S. Isik, Kadir Almus, Kudbettin Aksoy, Levent Bulut, Lynn Mitchell, Mehmet Okumus, Mustafa Atik, Mustafa Guvercin, Mustafa Ozen, Nihat Guvercin, Oner Ulvi Celepicikay, Ozgur Ozer, Selahattin Aydin, Soner Tarim, Tevik Eski, Umit Pecin, Yetkin Yildirim

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Learn more about the Cosmos Foundation / Harmony Public Schools HERE and HERE and HERE.
• More about the Discovery School of Tulsa HERE. http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/10/discovery-school-of-tulsa.html
• More about Dove Science Academy – Tulsa HERE. http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/06/dove-science-academy-tulsa.html

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Deborah Brown Community School

CHARTER SCHOOL SUED BY TEACHER. Tulsa World (OK) 24 Sept 2009 

A woman who quit her job to become a teacher at a new prekindergarten expansion program of the Deborah Brown Community School is suing the charter school for breach of contract after it abandoned plans for the program just days before its scheduled opening…

Bollinger's suit states "that the statements of the Defendants relating to the terms of employment were untrue at the time they were made," and that the false statements were "made with the intent to induce the Plaintiff to leave her previous job and enter into the employment agreement with the school."

Bollinger is seeking a monetary judgment plus punitive damages. Her suit names as defendants the charter school; its founder and director, Deborah Brown; and Harold Roberts, director of development and public affairs…

When the Tulsa World first reported that Deborah Brown Community School was abandoning its plan for the pre-K program after students had already enrolled and just days before the opening, Roberts denied that the prekindergarten program ever existed…

Two weeks later, the Tulsa World obtained documents through an open-records request showing that the school had a one-year, $25,000 lease on 2,091 square feet in two suites in a building at 5157 E. 51st St. and receipts from the city of Tulsa for occupancy permits to accommodate 40 students at the site.

At that time, Roberts and Bingham acknowledged that the school had, in fact, planned to open a new prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds but said the school needed 100 students to make the new program "economically viable" and that they had only 18.

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