Marcus Garvey Public Charter School (Washington, DC)

“School principal avoids jail sentence in assault on reporter, police.”Reporters Committee for Fredom of the Press, 11/3/1997

WASHINGTON, D.C.--A Washington, D.C. charter school principal was sentenced in mid-October to two years' probation for assaulting a Washington Times reporter and two D.C. police officers.

A D.C. Superior Court judge rejected the prosecutor's argument that Mary A.T. Anigbo, principal of the Marcus Garvey Public Charter School, deserved jail time for assaulting reporter Susan Ferrechio and the two officers at the school in early December. Instead, Anigbo will have to perform 240 hours of community service.

Ferrechio had gone to the school to complete a story on charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed. According to testimony during the trial, Ferrechio said that inside the school, she was assaulted by Anigbo, other staff members and students. She said Anigbo, who is black, yelled racial epithets as Ferrechio was physically ejected from the school.

Ferrechio returned two hours later with a Times photographer and two police officers. Another scuffle broke out when the photographer began snapping photos of Anigbo and other school employees.

In D.C. Superior Court in early August, Anigbo was convicted of three counts of simple assault for attacking Ferrechio and the two police officers and one count of taking property without right for stealing Ferrechio's notepad. Three other Garvey employees were also found guilty of similar charges.

Prosecutors urged that Anigbo be jailed for the incident because "a defendant who expresses no remorse for her crime and no respect for the court shows little chance of genuine rehabilitation on probation," The Washington Post reported. Anigbo could have faced up to 21 months in prison and fines totaling $3,300.

According to The Post, Judge Truman Morrison III called Anigbo's conduct "serious," but added that "by failing to incarcerate her, the court is not condoning her conduct."

Morrison also said he was not pleased with Anigbo's recurring claim that the trial was an exercise in racism, The Post reported.

Anigbo said she is appealing her conviction and that she will file a civil suit against The Times and the D.C. police. Her attorney would not elaborate. (D.C. v. Anigbo)

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Imagine College Preparatory High School

STUDENT IS AWARDED $145,000 IN ALLEGED ASSAULT AT ST. LOUIS CHARTER SCHOOL- SETTLEMENT INVOLVES ALLEGATIONS AGAINST OFF-DUTY CITY COP. STLtoday.com (St. Louis, MO) 29 May 2010 

A student who was allegedly assaulted by an off-duty St. Louis police officer at a charter school was awarded $145,000 as part of the terms of a settlement disclosed Friday.

The settlement reached earlier this week between Imagine Academy of Careers, at 3740 Marine Avenue, and Barbara Perry stems from an incident on Feb. 26, 2009. The plaintiffs alleged that Perry's son, J.N., who was a minor and not named in the suit, was assaulted at Imagine College Preparatory High School by an off-duty police officer, Eugene Page, who was in a relationship with his teacher, Genesa Smith…

The settlement states that the payment absolves Imagine Schools and employees of Imagine of any wrongdoing but leaves the door open to future litigation against Eugene Page and the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners…

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SUIT CLAIMS STUDENT, 15, WAS ASSAULTED AT IMAGINE CHARTER SCHOOL. STLtoday.com (St. Louis, MO) 21 Aug 2009 

ST. LOUIS -- A federal lawsuit filed Friday alleges that a 15-year-old student at Imagine College Preparatory High School was beaten by staff and a St. Louis police officer.

Named in the suit are Genesa Smith, a teacher; Eugene Page, a St. Louis police officer who the suit said is Smith’s boyfriend; Rodney Williams, a security guard; Tamara Thomas, the charter school’s principal at the time; and the school itself.

The suit, filed by the boy and his mother, Barbara Perry, alleges Page lifted the boy by his throat and slammed him repeatedly against a wall on Feb. 26. The suit states that Page told the boy he had been accused of threatening a teacher, and that the other three knew what was happening but did nothing. The boy, now 16, suffered injuries that caused blood in his urine, as well as blunt force trauma, according to the suit…

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21st Century Charter School

PARENTS BOYCOTT CHARTER SCHOOL; May 10, 2006; Post-Tribune (Gary, IN)

A parental uprising at 21st Century charter school led to a class boycott and an overflow of parents at a School Board meeting Tuesday. The fledgling charter school that lured 220 students from Gary public schools is nearing the close of its debut year with a $100,000 deficit, a sudden change in principals, and criticism from parents over topics ranging from school resources to lack of learning…

Michelle Williams said her son is not learning skills required for his grade. Instead of doing seventh-grade algebra, he's doing basic addition and subtraction, she said, causing her to supplement his studies at home.

Williams also said the school had not kept its promise of providing one computer for every two children. Chief Executive Officer Kevin Teasley of the school's management company GEO said that was untrue.

Williams, whose son boycotted Tuesday, said she might decide to withdraw him altogether.

One parent, who said her child was injured at school, complained that the school promised a nurse, counselor, and social worker but had provided none.

Teasley said the school is looking to hire a nurse.

GEO also was criticized for the decision to make former teacher and director of operations Tamika Chambers the principal after Leonard Brown resigned abruptly last week.

While some parents whisper he was forced out, Teasley and other staffers said he resigned at an administrative retreat without coercion.

Parents criticized Chambers for failing a majority of students in her classes for things like failing to bring in assignments.

Chambers has a master's degree in business administration, a teaching certificate, is working on her doctorate, but lacks an administrative license…

Liz Rendell, parent outreach coordinator, said parents have been concerned about teacher behavior: one child was disciplined by being hit with four drumsticks, while another student, she alleged, was "touched improperly."

"I've had my children out since Thursday," Rendell said, who also expressed concerns about a teacher viewing Internet pornography at school.

Teasley said two teachers were suspended for a week for the drumstick and touching incidents…

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TEACHER'S AIDE CHARGED IN CHOKING INCIDENT; May 27, 2006; Post-Tribune (Gary, IN)

A teacher's aide was charged this week with using a garbage bag to choke a student is on unpaid administrative leave, school officials said Friday. Clarence B. English Jr., 25, was charged with neglect of dependent in connection with the Feb. 15 incident at 21st Century Charter School.

"Mr. English has been suspended until further notice without pay and will not be allowed to return to the school building pending the outcome of his case," the school's general counsel Dana Johnson, said Friday.

An arrest warrant has been issued for English, who told Detective Cpl. Nelson Otano he would turn himself in after charges were filed…

English was in a social studies class when he and a 12-year-old student exchanged words. The boy and two classmates told police English used a plastic garbage bag to choke the victim until his eyes turned red and he was unable to breathe, court records state.

After the incident, "we had a visit with the mother and apologized. The mother had accepted the apology and so did the student," Kevin Teasley, CEO for the school's management company said Friday…

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LOCAL CHARTER SCHOOLS CITED BY INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS; March 31, 2011; The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN) 

The Indiana State Board of Accounts has released reports on three local charter schools, citing examples of poor record-keeping and money management.

Reports were released in mid-March on the 21st Century Charter School of Gary, Charter School of the Dunes in Gary and the East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy. All three reports covered the period of July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010.

The educational management company for Charter School of the Dunes and the East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy is Chicago-based American Quality Schools. The management company for 21st Century Charter is Indianapolis-based GEO Foundations.

Paul Joyce, deputy state examiner, characterized the problems in all three reports as an overall lack of internal control procedures established by the charter school boards and the management company for the schools. He said they are either not following the controls in place or don't have controls to follow…

With the expansion of charter schools across the state, Joyce said the Indiana State Board of Accounts workload has increased dramatically. He said if the Indiana Legislature approves the current language for charter schools, board of accounts officials hope to get the authority to establish internal control policies and procedures for charter schools to meet minimum standards…

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