Harmony Science Academy - Lubbock

“Incident leads LISD officials to have concerns about Harmony.” Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX), 8/27/2007

School districts in Lubbock say they're not concerned about a loss of state dollars if students transfer to a new charter school.

Public school systems lose state funds for student attendance when pupils transfer out, according to the Texas Education Agency. Harmony Science Academy-Lubbock opens today with about 250 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Lubbock Independent School District officials said they're concerned about something else: The issue stems from an incident at Hodges Elementary School earlier this year, but Harmony said it did nothing wrong.

Nancy Sharp, a district spokeswoman, said Harmony representatives entered Hodges shortly after school had ended. They started to ask teachers questions about students and demographics and refused to check in at the school office.

Sharp said LISD police and the FBI were notified. She couldn't provide a police report, and an FBI agent declined to deny or confirm the claim. The district also contacted the media about the incident.

"Our interaction [with Harmony] has been puzzling," Sharp said. "Our interaction has not been on the professional level we would expect from educators."

Harmony principal Gultekin Kaya denied the allegation...

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Sacramento Visual and Performing Arts Charter

“Sacramento Schools Lose Charter Over Controversy.” Original publication unknown, 5/30/2007

The role of charter schools in education at Sacramento Schools is continuously emerging and evolving. Sacramento Schools have been involved in the on-going battle between privately run charters and the public systems that fund them for years. The enormous impact of this inability to form a cohesive working relationship will come to a head on June 14th when the Sacramento Visual and Performing Arts Charter (VAPAC) closes its doors.

VAPAC was originally a component of the Sacramento Schools system. It began as a program within the Sacramento High School. When Sacramento Schools decided to make that a charter in 2003, VAPAC leased separate space and established its own charter. Part of what makes the Sacramento Schools’ charter programs challenging is determining who is in charge. Charter programs like VAPAC are fully funded by public funds, however have their own governing boards. This is what landed VAPAC and the Sacramento Schools in court this past year.

Sacramento Schools demanded the authority to fire administrators governing the charter school, citing budget and student safety concerns. VAPAC leaders disagreed. The lawsuit was finally settled in September of 2006. Nonetheless, when VAPAC tried to get a new charter from Sacramento Schools, they had been denied. Officials in the Sacramento Schools district office said that the charter was not able to produce the necessary curriculum and budgets requested...

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Morningstar Academy Charter School

In 2003, the for-profit Educational Administrative Services opened Morningstar Academy. EAS also operated the now-defunct California Charter Academy. Read about the CCA scandal @ http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/05/california-charter-academy-60-schools.html

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PROBATION FOR TEACHER/MINISTER IN AJ SEX EXPLOITATION CASE. Gold Canyon Today (AZ) 07 July 2009 http://www.goldcanyontoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=471&Itemid=189

Former Apache Junction charter school teacher and youth minister, Bobby Kennedy, 31, received lifetime supervised probation despite his pleading guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and furnishing obscene materials to a minor.

Kennedy was accused of molesting a 15-year-old female student at Morningstar Academy Charter School, kissing her and coercing students to take naked pictures of themselves with his cell phone in 2005. He was originally arrested by Apache Junction Police (AJPD) in May 2005 charged with 2 counts of sexual exploitation of minor and 2 counts of child molestation that reportedly involved at least three female students in incidents that occurred on school property at 1105 W. Superstition Blvd.

Kennedy was held in the Pinal County Jail on $750,000 bail until June 27, 2005 at which time his bail was reduced to $150,000. Kennedy subsequently posted the reduced bail and was out on bond while authorities continued to investigate the case, which led to an additional indictment on August 11, 2005 on 22 charges including molestation, sexual abuse, aggravated assault and furnishing obscene materials to a minor.

Kennedy failed to appear for a hearing on the charges on August 23, 2005 and dropped out of sight, prompting the AJPD to put Kennedy on their “Most Wanted List” where he remained for nearly three years.

Police believed that Kennedy’s mother and principal of Morningstar Academy, Carolyn Kennedy, had prior knowledge of her son’s actions with students and also that she helped her son to flee prosecution. In 2006 Kennedy’s mother pleaded guilty for failing to report the abuse of a minor and received two years probation and a suspended 90 day jail sentence along with paying a fine of $2,500. Despite her conviction and alleged failure to help authorities locate her fugitive son, she was allowed to retain her position as principal.

After nearly three years on the lam, Kennedy was arrested by Deputy U.S. Marshals on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 in Lawton, Oklahoma where he was living with his wife and small son. On Monday, June 26, 2009 Kennedy was sentenced to lifetime supervised probation with a 180-day deferred jail sentence with 52 days already served.

When told of Kennedy’s sentence of probation, former AJPD Commander Jay Swart who was instrumental in Kennedy’s capture by the U.S. Marshall’s was incredulous saying, “What? I can’t believe that! How can anybody justify probation for someone who confessed of such grievous actions against children?”

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Additional stories about this case

• PROSECUTOR TO FIGHT MOLESTATION SUSPECT'S BAIL-TEACHER WHO FLED IS CAUGHT, FREED ON BAIL AGAIN. The Arizona Republic 16 May 2008 http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/16/20080516molest0516.html
• PRINCIPAL'S SON ARRESTED THREE YEARS AFTER MOM SHELTERED HIM ON MOLEST CHARGE. AZcentral.com 19 Mar 2008 http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/WATCHBLOG/19644

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OPERATOR OF VALLEY SCHOOL FACES CHARGES IN CALIF. The Arizona Republic 11 Sep 2007 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0911charter0911.html

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools refused Monday to allow a charter-school company to change its name after its owner was indicted on felony-theft charges in California.

C. Steven Cox owns Educational Administrative Services, which operates Morningstar Academy, an elementary school, in Apache Junction.

Cox was indicted Sept. 4 in San Bernardino on 56 felony counts of misappropriation of funds and 56 felony counts of grand theft while operating the now-defunct California Charter Academy, run by the for-profit Educational Administrative Services. Cox was indicted along with a Hesperia City Council member, and both pleaded not guilty.

California shut down the school in 2004 after auditors found that the owners had drained the school's coffers of millions of dollars to provide high executive salaries and perks and give questionable contracts to friends and family members.

Arizona agreed to sign a contract with Cox in 2003 to open the Apache Junction elementary charter school.

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools on Monday tabled a request to allow Educational Administrative Services to change its name, citing the board's recent suspension of Cox's fingerprint card pending the outcome of the indictments…

The company has had money problems in Arizona. Its 2006 audit shows it was operating with "an accumulated loss of $174,050" and owed $34,882 in state and federal taxes. Its 2005 audit reported that an employee embezzled $27,640 and that financial records were missing after an attempted "hostile takeover" of the school by two employees…

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Eagles Peak Charter School (4000 students)

FORMER SCHOOL DIRECTOR GETS $1M.  North County Times (San Diego County, CA) 20 Aug 2010 

A jury awarded the former executive director of the now-defunct Eagles Peak Charter School $1 million this week in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed after the administrator was fired in 2008, an attorney said Friday.

In the lawsuit, the former executive, Rich Alderson, accused the school’s board of directors of firing him after less than a year on the job for refusing to retaliate against employees who had criticized them.

The jury determined that the school acted with fraud, malice or oppression, according to Bob Ottilie, Alderson’s attorney…

In his lawsuit, Alderson claimed that trustees had asked him to do something to keep the employees from speaking up, which he refused to do…

A few months earlier, disagreements between the board and former Executive Director Kathleen Hermsmeyer caused the school to split in two. Hermsmeyer and most of the other administrators moving to the newly formed River Springs Charter School based in Riverside County.

Before the division, the school was the largest in the region, with nearly 4,000 students. It catered to parents who primarily taught their children at home and had learning centers throughout San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties.

The school closed last year after the school board at the Julian district decided not to renew its charter. At the time, the district’s superintendent said the move was spurred in large part by Alderson’s firing.

In September, Mountain Peak Charter School opened with many of the same programs, employees, students and the same board president as Eagles Peak.

The new school is sponsored by the Mountain Empire Unified School District and serves more than 500 students in San Diego, Riverside, Orange and Imperial counties with learning centers in Vista, Chula Vista and San Jacinto…

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REPORT DOCUMENTS PAST PROBLEMS AT CHARTER SCHOOL. North County Times (San Diego County, CA) 07 Dec 2007

VISTA -- A county report released this week says poor judgment and lax oversight led to several problems at North County's largest charter school, where allegations of money mismanagement, nepotism and conflicts of interest erupted into an ugly power struggle last year.

The controversy at Vista-based Eagles Peak Charter School has since subsided; the massive academy split into two separate schools in early 2007. No criminal charges were filed against anyone at either school.

The county report says problems from the past could continue to haunt Eagles Peak, including the possibility that the school will have to return roughly $7.3 million in state funding. The school that branched off, River Springs Charter School, is not included in the audit and would not have to share that burden.

The report was released Tuesday by the San Diego Office of Education, which hired an auditing firm to look into 12 allegations against former administrators at the school that had been lodged by its board of directors. The report specifically studies what it describes as the actions of six top administrators who have since left Eagles Peak…

The report doesn't place all of the blame on former administrators. The school's board of directors contributed to the problems by not keeping an eye on expenses, the audit states. Before last year, the school board "provided minimal monitoring, at best," according to the report.

The report specifically examines several decisions and transactions by former Eagles Peak Executive Director Kathleen Hermsmeyer and her management team, including $18,284 worth of food purchases, $32,458 in balance transfers onto school credit cards and the lease of a beach-front condominium for visiting administrators…

Because school officials never asked for documentation of those credit card expenses, the auditors say it's impossible to determine exactly where that money went. When Hermsmeyer parted ways with the school earlier this year, the Eagles Peak board signed an agreement saying it would not seek to recoup any money…

Eagles Peak runs sites in San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties; River Springs operates schools throughout Riverside County.

Each organization has more than 2,000 students and caters to parents who home-school or want more involvement in their children's education than traditional schools often offer…

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CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD FIRES DIRECTOR, GRAPPLES WITH DEFICIT. North County Times (San Diego County, CA) 01 Feb 2007

TEMECULA -- As the largest charter school serving Southwest Riverside and North San Diego counties continues its split into two autonomous entities, the board overseeing half its operations fired the school's longtime executive director after a five-hour meeting Tuesday night.

Citing several contentions, including misappropriation of money and conflicts of interest, the board overseeing the Vista-based coastal operation of Eagles Peak Charter School terminated the employment of Kathleen Hermsmeyer, who has been on administrative leave from the coastal division since November.

Hermsmeyer remains director of Eagles Peak Charter School Inland Empire. She did not return phone calls Wednesday.

The decision to fire her came as coastal board members said they are grappling with a projected deficit of $2.4 million for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The board members said they largely blamed Hermsmeyer for much of the debt, contending the school has been mismanaged…

The votes came after three teachers resigned, citing concern over the school's direction and what they contended was the board's misguided agenda. Several parents also pleaded with the board that certain academic programs run at the Temecula campus should be spared. Several parents shed tears over the school's Montessori program, saying their children needed it.

About half of Eagles Peak's students are home-schooled, and the others are enrolled in various academic programs the school offers, ones that often include a mix of home-schooling and time spent at one of the campuses, dubbed learning centers, under the direction of teachers…

Each organization has a separate charter and roughly 2,000 students. The coastal school is chartered through the Julian Union High School District and the inland school is chartered by the Riverside County Office of Education. They are public schools and do not charge tuition…

Other reasons cited for Hermsmeyer's firing included her alleged decisions to:

- Allow a top administrator to earn $64,500 on loans the school took out without board approval.

- Lease a $43,000 sport utility vehicle, albeit partly for school use, an action the board called needlessly excessive.

- Lease a beachfront condominium in Oceanside for two top administrators to supposedly attract quality employees, an action the board called "tantamount to a gift of public funds."

- Give a "substantial pay raise" to employees last year without board approval and despite the school's negative operating balance at the time of $655,000, raises the coastal board contends benefited Hermsmeyer as well as her husband and sister, who were also employees.

- Work as a teacher while also working as executive director, and collecting two salaries, "constituting a self-dealing transaction and a violation of the Political Reform Act."…

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DISPLACED PUPILS TO ATTEND GREEN OAK FOR TWO WEEKS. San Diego Union-Tribune (CA) 25 Sep 2004 

VISTA – Nearly 230 kids shut out of their charter school when city officials closed it Thursday will go to class at Green Oak Ranch for two weeks while school officials figure out what to do.

Citing unsafe conditions such as narrow hallways that could impede fire evacuation, Vista Fire Marshal Phil Paige served operators of Eagles Peak Charter School, 450 W. California Ave., with eviction papers Thursday…

"It's likely we won't be able to do what the city needs us to do in two weeks. We'll need to find a more long-term facility or facilities for these kids," she said.

Assistant City Manager Rick Dudley said the city received a complaint Tuesday saying the school was unsafe. He said school officials put their pupils in the building without consulting the city on building codes.

"Schools have different standards for construction and access than say a commercial business," Dudley said. "You can't just throw school kids in an old commercial building and call it good."…

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Richard Allen Schools-Salem Avenue campus

This school is one of five schools operated by Richard Allen Schools, currently under investigation by Ohio state auditors. Read about that HERE. 

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FORMER KINDERGARTEN TEACHER HELD ON SEX COUNT; Dayton Daily News (OH) 09 Jan 2007

KETTERING — Parents of children who attend the Salem Avenue campus of the Richard Allen Schools will be receiving a mailed letter soon that will address the charter school's response to Friday's arrest of a former kindergarten teacher on a sex-related charge.

Steven Keller, 30, of 5710 W. Coach Drive, was arraigned Monday in Municipal Court on one count of gross sexual imposition against a 7-year-old girl.

Keller, who resigned from the school during Christmas break from classes, taught kindergarten at the Edgemont campus from 2000 to 2005 before going to the Salem Avenue campus, according to Mike McCormick, superintendent of Richard Allen Schools…

Keller was arrested in his apartment, where police said the assault occurred when the girl was staying there with her parents' knowledge. Police also believe Keller met the girl's family through his profession and was considered to be a friend of her family, Torok said…

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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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LEAP Academy University Charter School

“LEAP Academy paid $151,428 penalty to previous food-service vendor.” Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 3/12/2013

When Camden's LEAP Academy University Charter School compelled its new food-service management company to retain the school's executive chef and give him a $24,000 raise, LEAP also had to pay a $151,428 penalty to its previous vendor, documents show.

Including Michele Pastorello's new $95,000 salary, LEAP has spent nearly $250,000 this school year to keep him employed as executive chef. The position typically pays about $40,000, according to industry experts.

Pastorello is the live-in boyfriend of LEAP founder and board chairwoman Gloria Bonilla-Santiago. His raise, as well as the fee paid to the previous management company, Aramark, now are under review by the school's board of trustees...

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“Camden LEAP Academy board investigating chef's $24,000 raise.” Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 2/24//2013

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“Lawsuit is another blow to Camden's LEAP Academy.”Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 2/2/2013

In addition to LEAP Academy University Charter School’s financial woes, the school has been hit was a lawsuit alleging misappropriation of school and scholarship money.

The lawsuit filed in January by LEAP employee Mark Paoli, who served as the school facilities manager for 12 years before being demoted in May, alleges LEAP founder and board chair Gloria Bonilla-Santiago “routinely demanded that he perform work on her home while on LEAP Academy time and using LEAP Academy, tools, equipment and supplies...”

Bonilla-Santiago denied all allegations in a statement...

Founded in 1997, LEAP is one of Camden's more prominent charter schools, with a large downtown campus. In August, LEAP will open a new 60-student high school that will focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, and a new K-3 school. LEAP Lower School (K-6) and LEAP Upper School (7-12) are one block apart on Cooper Street.

But the school has recently faced scrutiny from the state for mismanagement of federal money. And just last month, it was publicly reported that LEAP  (as well as Camden Pride Charter School) had lost its tax-exempt status from the IRS in 2010 for failure to file tax forms for three consecutive years...

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“LEAP Academy ends basketball episode.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/14/2007 

LEAP Academy University Charter School has given up a costly battle over enrollment practices that netted out-of-state basketball players and ran afoul of state law. And the coach at the heart of the recruitment scandal will not return in September, according to a report in the Courier Post.

State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy had found LEAP violated laws that govern charter programs by giving admissions preference to out-of-state athletes over Camden students.

The charter school's trustees decided in May not to appeal Davy's ruling to the state Appellate Division. The Rutgers-based program spent nearly $55,000 on the legal fight.

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COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION NEW JERSEY STATE DECISION, April 3, 2007

http://www.state.nj.us/education/legal/commissioner/2007/apr/120-07.pdf

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Cross-Cultural Academy of Arts & Technology

CHARTER SCHOOL CLOSING DOORS-MONEY RUNS OUT BEFORE YEAR ENDS. Hartford Courant (CT) 05 May 2007; 

State officials scrambled Friday to salvage the rest of the school year for students at a small Hartford charter school that will close its doors Monday because it has run out of money.

Officials of the Cross-Cultural Academy of Arts & Technology, an experimental school that opened last fall, told parents this week the school could no longer afford to pay its teachers and would be closing with six weeks left in the regular school year…

The Cross-Cultural Academy -- an arts-oriented program that relied on collaborations with local and regional museums, theaters and other institutions -- ran into budget problems related to busing, special education, rent and other costs, said Augustine Cofrancesco, one of the school's founders.

``For eight or nine months we made a difference,'' Cofrancesco said, ``but financially it was just too much for us. ... The needs of our students were such that we had to have small class sizes and had to have aides,'' Cofrancesco said. That, however, also strained the budget.

``We were trying to run a Cadillac program on what it costs to run a Ford,'' he said.

In addition, the school, which gets a per-pupil grant from the state, could not enroll enough students to support itself. The school had hoped for as many as 100 students but opened with only about half that number. By this week, it had only 35 students…

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Chula Vista Renaissance High School & Chula Vista Academy Elementary School

2 CHARTER SCHOOLS CLOSE OVER FINANCES. San Diego Union-Tribune (CA) 27 Feb 2007 San Diego Union-Tribune (CA) 

CHULA VISTA – Two small charter schools in Chula Vista abruptly closed Friday, leaving seven educators looking for jobs and 65 students looking for a new school.

Chula Vista Renaissance High School and Chula Vista Academy Elementary School were academies run by Eagles Peak Charter School, which educates nearly 2,000 students in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties. Its headquarters is in Vista.

Arthur Townley, Eagles Peak's interim executive director, said the decision was a financial one and that the Chula Vista schools were closed because they are the smallest in the organization's network.

“We would be in trouble if we weren't making some real tough decisions by reducing expenditures,” Townley said. “Our survival depends on receiving a bank loan, and the bank was requiring us to make reductions to make sure we'd be able to pay back the loan.”

Townley said he expects to get word on the status of the loan within days.

Eagles Peak sent a letter to parents and staff on Feb. 20 informing them the schools would be closed three days later…

Eagles Peak came to Chula Vista in 2004 to replace another charter organization that had suddenly closed its network across the state amid an investigation into its finances and management practices.

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Theresa B. Lee Academy

STATE THREATENS TO HALT FUNDING FOR FORT WORTH'S THERESA B. LEE ACADEMYCHARTER SCHOOL; August 15, 2009; wfaa.com via Dallas Morning News (TX)

AUSTIN - State education officials have threatened to cut off funding for a troubled Fort Worth charter school unless its owner submits a detailed financial audit within 30 days.

The letter warning of the possible loss of state funding is the latest problem for Theresa B. Lee Academy of Fort Worth, a charter school already under state oversight because of poor performance ratings and cheating on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

The latest warning also applies to a sister campus in Houston, Jesse Jackson Academy. Funding will be suspended if the independent audit for both schools is not delivered to the Texas Education Agency this month by the owner and superintendent of the two schools, Jesse W. Jackson of Houston…

"We have to be able to ensure that state funds are being spent appropriately, and we have given them a very reasonable amount of time to produce this audit," said Debbie Ratcliffe of the TEA. She said the audit was originally due on Jan. 28 and that three notices have been sent.

Lee Academy, located in a gray storefront building in East Fort Worth, has had a state conservator overseeing its operations since the fall of 2007 after the school was cited for cheating on the TAKS and hit with an "academically unacceptable" rating from the state…

A financial report earlier this year found that the charter school owes the state more than $500,000 for overstating its student enrollment last year and for collecting state money for special education services that students never received…

Some teachers at the school were not paid at the end of the last school year in June and were told to file for unemployment benefits, she said. Even a check the school sent to Dr. Francois as payment for her services bounced.

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THERESA B. LEE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL ORDERED CLOSED; November 12, 2008; Fort Worth Star Telegram (TX) 

FORT WORTH — State officials ordered Theresa B. Lee Academy charter school to close by tomorrow, state officials said. The charter school, located on East Lancaster Avenue, failed to submit required financial audits and been monitored by the state for cheating on state tests in 2005.

Earlier this month, the school lost state funding for failure to submit financial audits, which public schools are required to do annually.

Officials said representatives from the Region XI Education Service Center, which serves and helps monitor Tarrant County area schools, arrived at the school Nov. 7 to find that the school was not in session.

“That was unacceptable to the commissioner,” TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said.

Jesse Jackson, who also oversees Lee’s parent company Youth for Education and Success, based in Houston, could not be reached for comment. He has not returned media calls in recent months. Lee academy was receiving funding for about 112 students.

The state asked YES officials to submit a 2005-06 by Sept. 29 and failed to do so. The state has revoked or removed 41 charters since allowing such schools in 1995.

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FORT WORTH CHARTER SCHOOL IN DISARRAY, BUT STATE KEEPS IT OPEN; June 14, 2008; Dallas Morning News (TX) 

An inexperienced science teacher with no textbooks or lab equipment. Special education students who get no special attention. Bills paid late or not at all.

Theresa B. Lee Academy, a Fort Worth charter school discovered cheating on 2005 TAKS tests, is failing in virtually every regard, according to state records.

Yet it remains open…

"This school is woefully inadequate to provide even a marginal education," the conservator, Carol Francois, concluded in one report. "The staff, for the most part, is poorly qualified, poorly trained, and poorly managed."

Jesse W. Jackson, the school's superintendent and owner, did not respond to requests for comment this week.

What does it take to shut down a school like this? Some critics say TEA needs tougher state laws to make it easier to sever the contract between a failing charter school and the state.

Some state efforts to shut down charters languish in court for years.

"I think it's very obvious that the bad charters need to be closed down and the good charters need to be emulated, and it's not as easy as it sounds," said state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano…

The audit, released last month, found that Lee didn't keep required attendance records for most of the 2006-07 school year and collected state money for special education services that students never received. The state says Lee must repay $516,388…

…monthly reports to TEA describe a school where teachers drilled students in how to take tests, but spent little time teaching the subject matter.

One report mentions three learning-disabled students who said they didn't receive extra academic help the law allows for them. They didn't even know they're supposed to get it.

Another report documents an untrained but eager science teacher begging for biology textbooks and lab equipment only to have her bosses tell her to find and use whatever her predecessor left behind.

Teachers haven't been paid for May, Dr. Francois said. Special education consultants said their invoices were paid late, if at all. A $3,446 check to Dr. Francois bounced…

In 2006, Dr. Jackson received $144,000 as superintendent of Lee and Jackson academies. Arthurlene Jackson, his wife and assistant superintendent, received $125,000, according to IRS records…

PROBLEMS:

•A state investigation found that educators helped students cheat on 2005 TAKS tests.

•An audit of the 2006-07 school year found that Lee failed to keep required attendance records and collected state money for special education and other services students never received. Lee must repay the state $516,388.

•In 2006-07, Lee reported an average attendance of 252 students. In 2007-08, with a state conservator in charge, attendance dropped to 115 students. Because schools receive state dollars based largely on attendance, Lee's annual state funding dropped from about $1.6 million to about $750,000.

•Students taking different electives, from social studies to physical education, were put in the same class with the same teacher.

•Classroom activities often consisted mostly of rote drills, reading aloud and filling out worksheets.

•A special education teacher did not always show up when she was supposed to.

•Only four students in the entire school passed the math TAKS and only three passed the science TAKS, based on preliminary 2008 scores.

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FW CHARTER SCHOOL GETS CHEATING PENALTY / State officials will overseeTAKS testing on three campuses; September 12, 2007; Dallas Morning News (TX) 

State officials announced punishments for three schools Tuesday, including a Fort Worth charter school that cheated on TAKS tests and may have inflated attendance figures.

At Theresa B. Lee Academy in Fort Worth, the Texas Education Agency will assign an official to oversee student testing and to help with a state audit of the school's attendance records, among other duties. Those steps allow the school to stay open this year…

 [Robert Scott, the TEA's acting commissioner] said the punishment Theresa B. Lee received is about as severe as possible. The state reported in June that investigators had found that school officials doctored student answer sheets, gave students answers and claimed to have lost key records in a "flood" that never happened.

Investigators had wanted to interview students who were listed on the attendance rolls but, according to Lee officials, were absent or had withdrawn from school.

Those aren't Lee's only troubles. The school has also received the state's lowest academic rating of "unacceptable" the last two years. If that pattern continues, Mr. Scott said, he'll consider closing the school next year…

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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…

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Espiritu Community Development Corporation's K-12 school

NFL GIVES SCHOOL ANOTHER $1 MIL; January 26, 2008; The Arizona Republic 

The National Football League is showering a small Phoenix charter school with gifts and money, including a check for $1 million…

The school doesn't have such a sunny record with the state. It has never tracked how many of its graduates have earned a college degree.

Last year, only about a quarter of the school's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders passed the AIMS reading test. For four years, the percentage of eighth-graders passing the AIMS reading test has fallen, landing at 38 percent last year…

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CHARTER SCORES SLIDE DESPITE NFL FUNDING-$1 MIL FROM SUPER BOWL GOTNOW-TROUBLED SCHOOL ROLLING; March 24, 2007; The Arizona Republic 

After the Valley hosted its first Super Bowl, in 1996, the NFL left behind a $1 million grant for a fledgling south Phoenix charter school.

Eleven years later, the non-profit Espiritu Community Development Corp.'s K-12 school has more than doubled the size of its campus and its student population. Yet it is struggling to meet state and federal standards in teaching its kids, with test scores dropping and causing the state to intervene.

Its special assistance, on top of state and federal funding, continues to flow. In keeping with NFL policy, Espiritu's school is in line to reap yet another $1 million when the Super Bowl returns to the Valley in February. In August, it also won a low-interest, private $8 million loan, approved by the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority, a committee appointed by City Council members…

Espiritu's owners, Fernando and Armando Ruiz, say they are confident they can turn around student performance along with the campus.

Fernando said the academic problems started a couple of years ago when the school grew by about 200 students in one year…

Today, Espiritu's school has 800 students, and the non-profit Espiritu Corp. receives about $5 million a year in state funds and $350,000 in federal money to operate…

Besides Armando, the staff of Espiritu Community Development Corp. includes his brother Fernando and their extended family members.

Three Ruiz family homes are adjacent to the charter school's campus, along with the headquarters of two additional non-profit agencies the family also operates.

One is called Mary's Ministries Inc., a Catholic organization created to train and support religious missionaries. Mary's Ministries was inspired by visions of the Blessed Mother that the Ruiz brothers' mother began experiencing in the 1980s. Estela Ruiz's visions became more public in the 1990s when she said she began reading messages delivered by the Blessed Mother and temporarily drawing pilgrims to the property…

Until last year, Mary's Ministries owned the land where Espiritu's charter school sits. About $500,000 a year in the charter school's budget went to Mary's Ministries for rent. But last year, the Ruiz brothers, tired of parents and lenders confusing Mary's Ministries with the school, put the land under the ownership of a third non-profit, the Project America Development Co…

Espiritu's AIMS test scores are sliding, and some grades have not reached state and federal standards over the past few years. If the school continues to underperform, the state can change its curriculum and replace its principal, now Fernando Ruiz, and its teachers. It also could shut it down…

The state report, released Wednesday, painted a picture of a school with vague educational goals that offers inadequate teacher training and that suffers from high teacher turnover. Its classes need more thoroughly written curriculum that matches state learning goals and appropriate instructional resources, the report stated…

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