Eric Mahmoud charter schools

“Georgia file connects Twin Cities charter school, fraud scheme.” Star Tribune (MN), 3/22/2013

When the news broke last summer that charter school entrepreneur Eric Mahmoud had entered a guilty plea to a mortgage fraud charge in Georgia, Mahmoud had a ready comeback for the Minneapolis school district, under whose authorization he was opening another charter school.

“I assure you that this was a personal, residential matter in Georgia and had nothing to do with Seed Daycare, Harvest Prep or any other educational institution,” Mahmoud told Sara Paul, the district’s liaison with charter schools, in an Aug. 16 e-mail.

In that case, Mahmoud has some explaining to do.

According to an investigative file compiled by Georgia authorities, there are at least two connections involving the school with the deal...

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“High Performing Charter Schools: Beating the Odds, or Beating theTest?” National Education Policy Center blog, 8/30/2012

...In Minnesota, birthplace of the charter school movement, one charter school operator labeled an “odds beater” has put a new twist on the concept. Eric Mahmoud, a former engineer and convicted mortgage fraudster, operates a group of segregated charter schools targeted at black, inner-city poor children that employs longer school days and years, strict discipline, and an unabashed strategy of beating state achievement tests.

For his success in raising math and reading scores, Mahmoud has been given rock-star status among charter proponents and recently was inducted into the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools hall of fame. In return, the Minneapolis school board recently awarded him the right to open four more charter schools sponsored by the city's school district, all presumably to be run in what a local conservative columnist laudingly called his “drill and kill” style. News stories and opinion pieces from traditional to the alternative press have nonetheless sung his praises, so desperate is the reform community to raise test scores. Meanwhile, almost no one has questioned the efficacy or morality of deliberately segregated schools, nor ones so focused on improving specific test scores. It seemed that, until very recently, Mahmoud could do no wrong.

Three weeks ago that might all have changed with a series of investigative stories in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by veteran reporter Steve Brandt highlighting fiscal and management questions that, given the lax controls on charter schools and Mahmoud's previous mortgage crime are unsurprising. Among Brandt's cumulative reporting is the following:

• Mahmoud's combined salary for his duties running charter schools (which total 900 enrollment) and their parent organization amounted to $273,000, more than any other superintendent in the state. In addition his wife, whose occupation is listed as “secretary,” took home $105,000, and his daughter got $28,000 as an “administrative aide.”

• Three of the four board members of the schools' parent organization, called “Seed Daycare,” which leases property to the school and provides administrative services, are Mahmoud family members.

• A letter from the charter school's authorizer “asserts that teachers whom Harvest (one of Mahmoud's charter schools) paid as contractors clearly fall under the IRS definition of employees.”

• The school's authorizer, Audubon Center of the North Woods, sent a “letter of deficiency” to Mahmoud asking for clarification of the organization's finances and for an explanation of “frequent payments among Mahmoud's organizations and Mahmoud himself,” and that “it's unclear what they are for and whether state money that supports Harvest and related entities is being used appropriately.”

• The Minnesota Department of Education is seeking to recoup money it granted to Mahmoud for an earlier, failed charter school used for its construction and to equip it. The MNDOE turned this issue over to the state auditor.

• Mahmoud, who operates deliberately segregated schools, is claiming racial discrimination, a claim disputed by the state, in the revocation of a $300,000 grant to one of his schools. The grant was to be used for a federally funded program called Reading First, which required the school to hire a full-time literacy coordinator and to use licensed teachers in the program, neither of which Mahmoud did.

But more important than the financial and management problems at Seed schools is the nature and structure of the educational pedagogy. The schools teach to the tests. Not just teach to them, but engineer high test scores with frequent testing, 100 minute blocks of reading and math each day and other methods...

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“Mahmoud, MDE clashed over pulling grant.” Star Tribune (MN), 8/20/2012

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“State inquiry focuses on failed north Minneapolis school.” Star Tribune (MN), 8/15/2012

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“Mahmoud's 273K salary raises eyebrows.” Star Tribune (MN), 8/15/2012

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"State examining finances of charter founder's schools.” Star Tribune (MN), 8/10/2012

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New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy

“Military academy’s background check didn’t turn up employee’s prior theft charge.” The Lens (LA), 4/23/2013

The man police are investigating for theft and fraud involving $31,000 in school funds has been accused of taking public education dollars before.

Darrell K. Sims, 54, a former business manager at New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy in Algiers, was accused of misappropriating $1,642 from the Terrebonne Parish School Board in 1996-97. He was a teacher at the time, according to a school spokeswoman.

It was one of a number of arrests in Sims’ past that the military academy’s top school administrator said did not show up in an employee background check conducted when Sims was hired in 2011.

That could be because the school’s background check, required by the state but conducted by a private company, encompassed only arrests in the last seven years. The state offers a background search that goes back further. The state’s more expansive background check also turns up charges, like the Terrebonne one, that are resolved through pretrial intervention. It does not appear that the school’s check covered such incidents...

Sims is now employed at another school, Joseph A. Craig Charter School in Treme, as a data manager...

Over the years Sims has been arrested several times on charges of writing worthless checks, according to court and police records...

Davis, the head of the military academy, said that he didn’t know of Sims’ past legal matters because the school’s background check went back only seven years and didn’t turn up anything.

NOMMA contracts with Delta Administrative Services for its human resources needs, Davis said. Delta contracted with a firm called SingleSource to do the seven-year background check for a fee of $30.

The state Department of Public Safety & Corrections conducts a criminal background check for schools for $42.50, searching state and federal databases for all arrests for which fingerprints were collected, including those resolved through pretrial intervention before a conviction can take place...

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a local nonprofit working to eliminate public corruption, said it is in a school’s best interest to know as much as possible about the people it hires — and that is precisely why such information is available to schools.

“For $40, you’re using a law enforcement database that’s always going to be better than a private database,” Goyeneche said. “I think every school system and every school should utilize the law enforcement database. You can’t have too much information on someone that is going to have access to children.”...

Davis said that when Sims was asked in writing on July 7, 2011, whether he’d ever been convicted of a crime — including “but not limited to pleas of guilty, nollo contendre, no contest, adjudication withheld, and pretrial intervention programs” — he checked a box that said “no.”...

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Joseph A. Craig Charter School

“Military academy’s background check didn’t turn up employee’s prior theft charge.” The Lens (LA), 4/23/2013

The man police are investigating for theft and fraud involving $31,000 in school funds has been accused of taking public education dollars before.

Darrell K. Sims, 54, a former business manager at New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy in Algiers, was accused of misappropriating $1,642 from the Terrebonne Parish School Board in 1996-97. He was a teacher at the time, according to a school spokeswoman.

It was one of a number of arrests in Sims’ past that the military academy’s top school administrator said did not show up in an employee background check conducted when Sims was hired in 2011.

That could be because the school’s background check, required by the state but conducted by a private company, encompassed only arrests in the last seven years. The state offers a background search that goes back further. The state’s more expansive background check also turns up charges, like the Terrebonne one, that are resolved through pretrial intervention. It does not appear that the school’s check covered such incidents...

Sims is now employed at another school, Joseph A. Craig Charter School in Treme, as a data manager...

Over the years Sims has been arrested several times on charges of writing worthless checks, according to court and police records...

Davis, the head of the military academy, said that he didn’t know of Sims’ past legal matters because the school’s background check went back only seven years and didn’t turn up anything.

NOMMA contracts with Delta Administrative Services for its human resources needs, Davis said. Delta contracted with a firm called SingleSource to do the seven-year background check for a fee of $30.

The state Department of Public Safety & Corrections conducts a criminal background check for schools for $42.50, searching state and federal databases for all arrests for which fingerprints were collected, including those resolved through pretrial intervention before a conviction can take place...

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a local nonprofit working to eliminate public corruption, said it is in a school’s best interest to know as much as possible about the people it hires — and that is precisely why such information is available to schools.

“For $40, you’re using a law enforcement database that’s always going to be better than a private database,” Goyeneche said. “I think every school system and every school should utilize the law enforcement database. You can’t have too much information on someone that is going to have access to children.”...

Davis said that when Sims was asked in writing on July 7, 2011, whether he’d ever been convicted of a crime — including “but not limited to pleas of guilty, nollo contendre, no contest, adjudication withheld, and pretrial intervention programs” — he checked a box that said “no.”...

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EdChoices

“Oregon charter school founders accused in $20 million racketeering lawsuit.” The Oregonian, 1/4/2013

Tim King and Norm Donohoe, who ran a chain of taxpayer-funded charter schools across small-town Oregon from their headquarters in Clackamas, scammed the state out of $17 million and must repay that plus $2.7 million more, the state said in a court filing this week...

King and Donohoe, who were the director and president, respectively, of a nonprofit they named EdChoices, submitted false, incomplete and misleading records about how many students were enrolled in the schools and how they were spending the state's money, state prosecutors say in the complaint...

The pair opened and operated at least 10 charter schools that went by various and changing names, including Baker Web Academy, Estacada Early College and Sheridan AllPrep Academy. Most were launched under the name AllPrep. They existed under agreements with the school boards in Estacada, Sisters, Baker City, Sheridan, Burns and Marcola, but enrolled students from across the state in their online programs.

The state provided startup grants of up to $450,000 per charter school. The state Department of Educationalso paid about $6,000 a year for each student enrolled, relying on the charter school operators to document the number. The state now says those records were "erroneous, false and misleading."

Before starting AllPrep schools, King was a former teacher paid to create and run three North Clackamas School District charter schools: New Urban High, Clackamas Middle College and Clackamas Web Academy. Those schools are still operating, though King left in 2008.

The district discovered a trail of financial problems, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in questioned expenditures, only after his departure. The three schools agreed in 2009 to repay the district almost $400,000, a debt load that crimped their operations. But the state did not file a legal claim against King...

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See these entries for additional information

- Oregon charter schools (inadequate oversight)

- AllPrep Web Academy network

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Laboratory Charter School of Communication and Languages

“Feds charge Philly charter school mogul in massive fraud.” Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 7/24/2012

A charter school mogul was charged today in a multimillion-dollar fraud case by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Dorothy June Hairston Brown, who received accolades for students' test scores and gained notoriety for collecting large salaries and suing parents who questioned her actions, was indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.

Brown, 75, and four executives from her charter schools, were charged with defrauding three charter schools of more than $6.5 million in taxpayer funds.

U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger announced that a federal grand jury had returned a 62-count indictment against Brown and four of her trusted employees...

A former Philadelphia school district principal, Brown founded three small charter schools in Philadelphia: the Laboratory which has campuses in Northern Liberties, Overbrook and Wynnefield; Ad Prima in Overbrook; and Planet Abacus in Tacony.

In addition, in 2005 she helped create the Agora Cyber Charter School, which provides online instruction to students from across the state in their homes.

Brown served as the chief executive officer simultaneously at Laboratory and Ad Prima and as a consultant to Planet Abacus until October of 2008, according to the nonprofit tax forms the schools filed.

She stepped down from the posts after the state law was changed that July of that year to bar charter administrators from collecting multiple salaries from schools or from companies that provide services to charters schools.

Brown was paid $150,000 for working 30 hours per week at Laboratory until that October and $115,904 for a 30-hour week at Ad Prima. In addition, she was a paid consultant to Planet Abacus and Agora, which at that time was headquartered in Devon.

Despite relinquishing the administrative titles, Brown retained control of day-to-day operations of Ad Prima, Laboratory and Planet Abacus, according to sources with knowledge of the schools...

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Florida charter schools (investigator observations)

“Experiences As A Police Officer With The Ugly Side Of Charter Schools And Their Management Companies.” Florida Public Employees Partnership, 12/15/2011 

With such a strong push for continued expansion in Florida, I am compelled to share my experiences as a police officer with the ugly side of Charter Schools and their management companies. As a former investigator and supervisor of a public corruption unit, several years ago my unit was responsible for a series of criminal investigations involving personnel, owners, and partners of Charter Schools. Where as some of these investigations resulted in schools being shut down and arrests others culminated in utter frustration resulting from criminals getting away with fraud. A fact made possible by industry wide practices that benefit from weak laws and the impossibility of effective industry oversight. 

During the course of these investigations members of my unit worked with a host of local, state, and federal investigators. One of which became the target of a multi-state Federal Bureau of Investigations criminal investigation. Where as, I do not claim to be an expert in the business of running Charter Schools my investigative experience provided a good insight into the big businesses of collecting Tax Dollars for educating public school children. It is from this insight that I share the following:

In everyone of our investigative cases, the schools were set up as nonprofit organizations. Most hired management companies to oversee the day to day operation of the schools. They all had a Board of Directors, had applied for and granted a Charter to be a school from local school districts as governed by Florida State Statute 1002.33 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/. Their main source of revenue was per pupil funding – called Full Time Equivalent (FTE). Some received more funding based on student disabilities.  In every case the drive to recruit more students was the primary focus of the schools and management companies. Most schools had received additional funding from available grants and all claimed Tax Exemptions as nonprofit organizations.

In just about every case the founders of the Charter Schools had ties to the Board of Directors which authorized the hiring of the management companies to run the schools. Even worse, we discovered the owners of the management companies were either the same as the school founders or were directly connected to them.  All of which revealed major conflicts of interests in most of the decisions made on the spending of Tax Dollars and education of students.

Like the Miami Herald’s Charter Schools expose, we confirmed the common practice of management companies charging for the leasing of school site facilities, vehicles, and materials. Items that were either owned by the management company or linked to their owners.  A practice that was followed with exorbitant management fees charged for services that often could not be explained, were unjustified, or could have been done by school staff for less. In all, these companies’ rule over all matters of business resulted in the majority of the schools’ money being collected by the management company or vendors of their choice without the benefit of competitive bids.

Internally, school staff like teachers, school administrators, and other staff were generally paid less than their public school counterparts. Staff had no benefit of collective bargaining, union representation and as such were at will employees.  Teachers were commonly discovered to be teaching out of field. Interviews revealed there were individuals hired with minimal to no qualifications to teach or perform the job functions of their assignments. The majority of these schools were found to be ill equipped with teaching materials that often were substandard to those in public schools.  The lack of common resources available in public school districts was a constant...

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The Carden School of Tucson

“2 charter schools struck by thefts.” Arizona Daily Star, 1/1/2012  

When charter school director Bette Jeppson sat down with an accountant last March, she expected to get a few tips on how the school could improve its bookkeeping and finances.

What she got instead was a litany of illegal transactions by the school's business manager that drained resources to the point the school was forced to cut back in educational spending, making it one of two Southern Arizona charter schools to come under investigation by the Arizona attorney general for financial improprieties.

For example, Jeppson didn't expect to learn business manager Keri Gall had given herself a 29 percent raise and was making 40 percent more than she herself was.

Or that the manager had used the school's credit cards to buy a $1,000 boxer, designer clothes, manicures, groceries and items used to remodel her home.

Jeppson was even more stunned to learn the manager hadn't been depositing money into teachers' IRAs and even forced one to pay her own health insurance...

Instead, Jeppson found out that morning Gall had been writing checks to herself and fixing the books, plus misusing the credit cards...

Originally charged with one count of fraud and four counts of theft, Gall pleaded guilty to one count of theft. She was also ordered to pay $150,280 in restitution at no less than $500 a month.

Authorities can prove Gall stole $128,000 between Jan. 1, 2007 and March 23, 2011; the K-8 school couldn't afford to dig back to her 2003 starting date...

Gall is not the only charter school employee to end up before a judge in recent months...[SEE entry for The Pima Partnership School]

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The Pima Partnership School

“Former Tucson school principal given probation in theft case.” Arizona Daily Star, 10/13/2011

A former charter school principal was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay nearly $23,000 in restitution for attempted theft Thursday.

William Eddings Jr. was the principal at a charter school operated by the Pima Prevention Partnership when discrepancies were discovered during an audit by the Arizona Department of Education, according to court records.

The audit and subsequent investigation revealed that between June 16, 2006, and March 15, 2008, Eddings submitted inflated attendance records, awarded diplomas to 13 students who didn’t meet the state’s graduation requirements and signed invoices for services not provided to the school. Eddings received bonuses of $5,000 based on the information he provided.

Eddings was indicted in April on two counts of fraud and one count of theft; he pleaded guilty to attempted theft in August.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Eddings could have received up to three years and nine months in prison.

On Thursday, Assistant Arizona Attorney General Michael Jette told Judge Howard Fell of Pima County Superior Court he is concerned Eddings has not accepted responsibility for his actions.

Eddings told a probation officer he didn’t do anything wrong and only pleaded guilty to end his legal problems.

In addition to the probationary sentence, Eddings was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service.

Eddings, who lives in Arizona City, hopes to have his probation transferred to Pinal County.

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Horizons K-8 Charter School

HORIZONS CHARTER FOUNDER FACING THEFT, EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES; November 13, 2007; DailyCamera.com (Boulder, CO) 

A founder of Boulder's Horizons K-8 Charter School has been arrested on suspicion of theft, forgery and embezzlement based on alleged misrepresentations made to the state's retirement program.

Ann Leslie Kane turned herself in and was arrested Friday. She has bonded out of jail.

Boulder Valley spokesman Briggs Gamblin said Horizon's parent board brought financial concerns to the school district a couple of years ago. The district commissioned an independent audit, which uncovered red flags, he said, and the information was turned over to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office in late 2005…

The possible charges, all felonies,are one count of theft, one count of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of forgery and one count of embezzlement of public property. All charges relate to allegations that Kane misrepresented her salary, which would allow her to collect more retirement money through the Public Employees Retirement Association, according to a school statement…

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Hoggetowne Middle School

FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED THEFT OF SCHOOL FUNDS; October 14, 2009; Gainsville Sun (FL)

The ex-principal of a local charter school faces felony charges for allegedly spending more than $18,000 in school funds for personal use.

On Tuesday, Gainesville police charged Kristine M. Santos, 38, formerly the principal and president of the board of directors at Hoggetowne Middle School, with grand theft and fraud. She turned herself in Tuesday and was released on her own recognizance.

Last September, Alachua County School District staff went to Hoggetowne to assist the school's new bookkeeper and reported spending irregularities involving a school debit card that Santos used…

A few of the purchases were listed in the complaint. They included approximately $1,500 at Gainesville Health and Fitness for personal training services, an approximately $380 bill at Hilton Hotels Disney and $139.72 at Victoria's Secret.

According to police, school funds were also used to pay off approximately $31,800 in charges on Santos' personal credit card. She reportedly identified approximately $19,593 of those charges as expenditures for the school but could not provide a school-related purpose for the remaining $12,221.11.

Santos told Hoggetowne school officials that she gave her entire credit card bill to the school's accountants and they mistakenly paid the whole bill instead of only the school-related expenses, according to the complaint.

In the complaint, Gainesville Police Detective William Quirk wrote that the standard procedure should be "to submit a request for reimbursement, not to have the bill paid directly by the school."…

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Paramount School of Excellence

CHARTER SCHOOL CO-FOUNDER FACES NEW ALLEGATIONS - LAWSUIT ACCUSES DIMITRI SNOWDEN OF $45K IN FRAUD; March 17, 2011; WRTV Indianapolis 

INDIANAPOLIS -- The co-founder of an Indianapolis charter school is facing new allegations he defrauded schools and small business owners out of thousands of dollars. 6News' Kara Kenney reported Monday that Dimitri Snowden, the co-founder of the Indianapolis-based Paramount School of Excellence, was named in a lawsuit brought by the KIPP Academy, another Indianapolis charter school, which is sponsored by Mayor Greg Ballard and funded by public tax dollars. [More about KIPP Indianapolis HERE]

The school accuses Snowden and his information technology company, Ion360, of breach of contract, fraud and deception totaling $45,796 in damages.

The Paramount School of Excellence also contracted with Snowden's company, but fired him and is now seeking legal action…

Tom Wagenhauser with Indy IT Professionals said small-business owners should always ask for references, certifications and accreditations before doing business with a Web company…

Ion360 is listed as a member of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. The chamber refused to comment on Snowden's membership due to the ongoing lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit brought by KIPP, Ion360 pressured the school to purchase products and services it did not need and could not afford and failed to provide the promised "responsive service and rapid resolution" to technology issues and problems.

It's unclear whether KIPP Charter Academy investigated Snowden prior to hiring him…

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Alexander Hamilton Charter School

EX-DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL FACES THEFT COUNTS; April 26, 2002; The Record (Bergen County, NJ)

The former director of Paterson's Alexander Hamilton Charter School was indicted Thursday on theft charges for allegedly cashing one of the school's checks several weeks after she had quit her post.

Carol Ann Gauthier, 46, left her job on June 27, but on July 18, she cashed a school check made out to her for $600, said William Gradisher, Passaic County chief assistant prosecutor.

A count of attempted theft was also filed because on the same day, Gauthier tried to cash a check for $4,500 at another bank, but officials there flagged the check and school officials were able to stop it, Gradisher said.

Gauthier could not be reached for comment Thursday, but previously she said the school owed her $27,000 in expenses and salary.

Gauthier left her job in a storm of controversy, with Alexander Hamilton board members accusing her of the thefts and of trying to sabotage the school. In August, the board members took Gauthier to court, saying she double-crossed the school during negotiations for a building lease.

School officials said they thought Gauthier was securing the lease for the Alexander Hamilton school, when in fact, she signed the lease for her own charter school, which they said she created on the sly.

Gauthier's charter school, called the Silver Fox Learning Center, never got off the ground, according to state records. The Alexander Hamilton charter school, plagued by fiscal problems, was turned over to the public schools in October to prevent the 250-student, K-5 school from being shut down.

The counts of theft by deception and attempted theft by deception each carry a maximum five-year prison term upon conviction. Court records show that several judgments were filed against Gauthier in the wake of a failed Newark restaurant project, and that she filed for personal bankruptcy.

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Cleveland Academy of Math, Science and Technology

MINISTER CONVICTED OF STEALING SENTENCED TO 7-YEAR TERM; August 15, 2007 Cleveland Plain-Dealer 

A minister convicted of stealing $1.4 million through a Cleveland charter school he founded was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Wednesday.

The Rev. Mark Olds once garnered national attention for his work helping former convicts. But earlier this year, a federal jury convicted the Solon man on 62 counts, including mail fraud, money laundering and tax charges.

Prosectors said Olds used the Cleveland Academy of Math, Science and Technology to enrich himself.

Olds, 56, and his employees claimed the school on East 71st Street had as many as 650 students, even though the building could hold only 150 students.

The charter school Olds established in 2002 received about $5,200 per student each school year. The school received an additional $1.4 million as a result of the fraudulent head counts.

Olds, of Solon, also used more than $200,000 in school money to buy a building on Woodland Avenue in 2002. Then he spent nearly $400,000 to renovate the building, eventually moving the school into the building in September 2003. Three months later, the school closed. Olds then sold the Woodland Avenue building and kept the profits for himself, prosecutors said.

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Chiron Charter School

FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL OFFICIAL FACES 7 FELONY CHARGES; September 6, 2006; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) 

The former top administrator at a defunct downtown Minneapolis charter school has been charged with seven felony counts of misusing more than $300,000 in public money.

Kristin Laxton was accused of overreporting the number of students to bring the school extra money, using federal grants for purposes outside the law, and paying herself more salary and reimbursement than she was due.

The Hennepin County complaint filed late last week is one of the largest theft cases made against a Minnesota charter school. It accuses Laxton of three counts of theft, two counts of forgery and two counts of making false complaints to a public body. Much of the complaint is based on an investigation conducted by the state auditor's office, which sent its report to the county last fall under its responsibility to forward any matters involving misbehavior by public officials…

According to the complaint, the school was paid $238,170 more than it was due for the 2004-05 school year. The complaint alleges that Laxton inflated student counts both by reporting students whom auditors couldn't find on attendance logs and by reporting that students attended for longer than they did…

The redacted version of the auditor's report, made public late last month, suggests potential culpability by others for amounts they were paid for paychecks or other reimbursement to which they were not entitled. Peter Cahill, deputy county attorney, said the investigation into Chiron is continuing. The state's worst charter school scam involved Right Step Academy. A federal judge recently sentenced founders William and Shirley Pierce to prison time and more than $489,000 in restitution of state aid for their role in the fraud.

The report issued by the Minnesota State Auditor is @ http://www.osa.state.mn.us/reports/spi/2006/chiron_06_report.pdf

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The Institute for Excellence Charter School

WINSLOW CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDER INDICTED; Feb. 28, 2011; Courier-Post (NJ) 

The founder of Camden County's only suburban charter school has been accused of attempting to defraud the school in an indictment handed down Wednesday by the state grand jury following an investigation by the state Attorney General Office's Division of Criminal Justice...

In January 2010, the [the state Department of Education's Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance] released its findings, listing allegations of misuse of funds and governance practices. It concluded that most of the allegations were out of its jurisdiction and forwarded them to the Attorney General's Office, noting specifically that the fictitious invoice "may constitute a violation of the School Ethics Act and criminal statute."…

The OFAC's review also found that staff members observed [name omitted] and another board member going through student files, that board members regularly visited the school unannounced, that [name omitted] routinely borrowed money from staff members and that she used the school copy machine to run off fliers for a private tattoo party...

(redacted on 9/13/2012 per request )

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