Touchdowns4Life Charter Middle School

“Financial problems close three charter schools in Broward.” The Miami Herald (FL), 9/14/2012

Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.

The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.

But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.

“We should have had way more time to look for other schools for our kids,” said Nicole Williams, whose son Alfonso was a 10th-grader at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, one of the three schools now closed. Also closing this week were the nearby SMART Charter School (run by the same company as Eagle Charter), and Touchdowns4life Charter School in Tamarac, which was founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby.

Williams said the school sent her a notification letter on Wednesday...

... district spokeswoman Tracy Clark said Touchdowns4life’s closure was due to “funding” issues — likely also enrollment-related, since charter schools are funded almost entirely based on the number of students who attend.

Annual audits for all three schools show deep financial troubles. A June 2011 audit of Touchdowns4life showed the school was nearly $24,000 behind on its rent, was accused of owing $20,000 to the company that supplied its computer equipment, and had been charged more than $4,000 in bank overdraft fees...

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“Broward Charter Schools Closures Reveal Larger Issues.” CBS Miami (FL), 9/16/2012

... CBS 4 spoke to a former teacher at Touchdowns on Saturday.

Bibiana Ortiz spent 15 years teaching at traditional Broward county public schools and it was her first experience with a charter school.

“I wondered why parents were dropping their kids off when there were only two teachers and three classrooms,” she says.

“The math and history teacher was let go on the ninth day.  The principal was let go and myself and one other teacher were left to carry the whole weight.  They didn’t have p.e. and recess was in the parking lot.  We didn’t have supplies or books and we haven’t gotten paid.”...

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“Charter school founded by ex-Dolphin warding off eviction.” Sun Sentinel (FL), 8/16/2011

TAMARAC — A charter school founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby is facing eviction from a strip mall just days before the start of a new school year.

Broward County Judge Robert W. Lee signed an order dated last Friday against the Touchdowns4Life charter middle school, authorizing the school's eviction from 10044 W. McNab Road.

According to the Broward School District, the school reached an agreement with its landlord on Tuesday to ward off the eviction. The landlord could not be reached to confirm the agreement.

Court documents show the school was behind on its rent in the sum of $39,950.20 as of July 12. Rent for July alone was $7,085, although it wasn't clear from the documents whether that included any penalties or fees...

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Crown Ridge Academy

“San Bernardino charter school shut down.” San Bernardino Sun (CA), 9/19/2012

SAN BERNARDINO - More than 100 students who had been attending a charter school for at-risk children stayed home Wednesday, and they won't be going to Crown Ridge Academy ever again.

Neither will the school's teachers, all of whom the charter school director says are owed months of pay without a clear path to collect that money.

The board of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, which allowed the school to open in 2009, revoked the charter Tuesday night after determining that there was no realistic way for the school to dig itself out of a deep financial hole...

A big chunk of the school's problems came from spending a large grant twice, [board president, Steven Bielinski] said, and officials made other mistakes, but those people have been replaced...

It might be worth taking a risk on money coming in if the school were producing good academic results, but its test scores are far below those of other district schools that also serve English-learning students, said board member Judi Penman.

Crown Ridge is the latest charter school in the district to face potential shutdown.

Casa Ramona Academy lost 100 students beginning in the 2010-11 school after complaints of physical problems, inadequate instruction for English learners and classes that didn't qualify students for admission to state universities.

And the Public Safety Academy faced years of complaints about fiscal mismanagement and cronyism until that charter school's founder was removed from the board.

The district approved five-year extensions to the charters of both schools this spring.

[Board member Margaret Hill] worried this could be another stain on the reputation of the district and the city...

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California College, Career and Technical Education Center

“School shutdown leaves students, teachers scrambling.” News10/KXTV (CA), 9/2/2011

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - The California College, Career and Technical Education Center has shutdown in West Sacramento leaving teachers and students and staff scrambling to find somewhere else to go.

Some parents apparently found out about the charter school's unexpected closure when they arrived for an orientation meeting Thursday and found the school's doors locked...

When CCCTec opened last fall, every student was provided with an IPad.

Owner and school superintendent Paul Preston said the school was designed for students who had struggled at other schools. They would be able to get enough credits to graduate, as well as, learn vocational skills, such as, auto repair, woodworking and graphic design.

Preston said the school had space for 200 students. But teacher Kathryn Schroeder-Kelly said when school ended last spring only about 66 students were enrolled...

"My paycheck bounced," Schroeder-Kelly said. "That's when I thought, well, this is weird. But I got a cashier's check and everything was fine."...

A letter sent from the State Board of Education to the school last June said, "CCCTec appears to have failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles, or engaged in fiscal mismanagement."

The letter said the school had not paid teachers, several vendors and had missed payments to the California State Teachers Retirement System...

The school's Facebook page talked about a $750,000 grant it had received. The California Department of Education is demanding that $57,000 be returned...

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Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls

“Money woes at charter school; Memo shows Brighter Choice delayed paying some employee benefits; Albany district blamed.” Times-Union (NY), 8/3/2011

ALBANY -- Serious financial trouble has prevented the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls from paying some employee benefits.

The school had such a hard time meeting payroll that it did not pay the retirement benefits of some employees for several months, according to an internal email obtained by the Times Union. The school is under "tremendous fiscal pressure," Ronald Racela, director of finance and operations for Brighter Choice Charter Schools, wrote to employees to explain why no contributions had been made to their 403(b) retirement plan. He blamed the financial conditions on the Albany school district's withholding of funds, which were finally repaid last week.

"No 'funny business' has occurred with the school's cash and ... we are victims of lack of cash flow due to our biggest funding source (the ACSD) not making good on their responsibility," he wrote.

However, a financial audit on file with the state Education Department indicates the school has suffered financially for years...

Chris Bender, executive director of Brighter Choice Foundation and vice chairman of the school's board, said the school made mistakes in prioritizing how it spent money.

He said he was not sure if it was illegal to withhold retirement fund payments and said it would not happen again. He said the payments were made current last week and that the total was about $10,000.

"We value the employees, we have obligations to pay them and their benefits," he said.

The four months of missed payments are a sure sign that a charter school, generally considered to be one of the city's best, has major financial struggles.

The school's financial picture has darkened for at least two years, according to an audit at the state Education Department.

Brighter Choice ended the 2009-10 school year $453,745 in the red, which was worse than previous year, when its expenses exceeded its income by $311,638...

In 2007, the school was issued $18 million in tax-exempt bonds through the city's IDA to refinance the construction of the school at 250 Central Ave.

If the school were to default on the payment of those bonds, bondholders would be on the hook, not taxpayers.

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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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Omni Prep Academy-North Pointe

SCHOOL'S OUT-TROUBLES AT OMNI PREP CHARTER SCHOOL LEAVE STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND TEACHERS IN LIMBO AND RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE REGULATED; April 14, 2011; Memphis Flyer (TN) 

…[Courtney] Eskew and another kindergarten teacher called the meeting to explain why they had resigned from Omni Prep lower school the preceding week, only eight weeks before the end of the academic year. The following Monday, April 4th, three more teachers would resign…

Omni Prep North Pointe charter school was founded last year by Cary Booker [Newark mayor Cory Booker’s brother] and Marc Willis and opened last August…

News outlets and Omni Prep administrators alike reported that the five teachers left because Omni Prep told teachers in mid-March that they would only receive one-third of their paychecks. (This was not the first time Omni Prep had been unable to pay teachers; they skipped a pay period in July, which was made up in back pay.) But the former teachers have since come out in defense of their resignations, citing a host of concerns about the overall functioning of the school…

Teachers agree that the school's plan was exciting and inspiring on paper, but they soon became apprehensive about how the vision would work in practice. For Eskew, doubts began when teacher training was cut short so teachers could commit themselves to recruiting students.

"I think the fact that I started to work for a school that had no students — that was my first moment of doubt," Eskew says. "We were told, Training is stopping because we don't have our quota. We asked, How many students do we have? They said five. And two of them were one of the principal's own kids."…

Teachers also expressed concern over not being fingerprinted, a standard safety procedure for working with children in the Memphis City Schools system. They were similarly uneasy about their training being cut short…

But the former teachers' complaints don't stop there. No books, no curriculum, no consistency, and no recourse for their concerns were among the top grievances. Many teachers complained about the way students were grouped by ability: basic, proficient, and advanced. At the beginning of the year, Eskew says, "I was asked to divide my students into three groups based on ability — no instruction as to how to do that. Just 'group them by the end of the day.'"…

"I can't say that the administration, as far as Marc Willis and Cary Booker, was aware of all the problems we were having as a lower school," she says. "They were very rarely present, unless giving tours to members of the board or visitors or potential donors."…

Because Omni Prep did not get the enrollment numbers the founders expected and did not receive the state funds they budgeted for, financial worries were present from the beginning…

[Memphis City School Board member Tomeka] Hart believes charter boards should be required to go through school board training, just like the Memphis City School Board does. "If the board is doing what a board should do, it would be the first to know the issues that a charter school may face. Part of it is making sure that those boards are present and accountable, the same way we have to be…

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Watch the FOX TV news report HERE. 

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New Hope Institute of Science and Technology

FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL HEAD ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT INDICTMENT ALLEGES WOMAN STOLE MORE THAN $300,000 IN FEDERAL MONEY; January 24, 2008; Associated Press 

The U.S. attorney's office accused the former head of a Milwaukee charter school Wednesday of embezzling more than $300,000 in federal money.

A grand jury indicted Rosella Tucker, 54, of Milwaukee, on two counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds.

Tucker started New Hope Institute of Science and Technology in 2003, according to a U.S. attorney's office news release. It was a subsidiary of Tucker's New Hope Child Development Center, which also included her voucher school, Tucker Institute of Learning.

The indictment alleges that Tucker embezzled more than $300,000 from 2003 to 2005 from New Hope Institute of Science and Technology, which received federal money. She served as director of New Hope Institute of Science and Technology and New Hope Child Development Center, prosecutors said.

But Milwaukee Public Schools closed New Hope Institute of Science and Technology in 2006 for failing to meet its financial obligations.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously reported that the school was unable to pay its employees on time consistently and owed money to the school district and on its building insurance.

There was also some question about a 2002 BMW X5 valued at $43,700, plus $6,392 in finance charges. The district told the school to sell the vehicle in 2005, but it remained licensed to New Hope Child Development Inc. and someone named Haider Bokhari when the district decided to close the school.

Tucker could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy

SCHOOL BOARD REVOKES S.F. SCHOOL'S CHARTER / URBAN PIONEER'S FINANCES IN DISARRAY, OFFICIAL SAYS; August 27, 2003; San Francisco Chronicle (CA) 

The San Francisco school board revoked the charter of Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy on Tuesday night, shutting down the alternative high school that ran a wilderness program in which two students died.

The 4-3 vote came one week before Urban Pioneer students were due to start class…

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman had asked the board to revoke the charter because of financial problems identified by a consultant she brought in to review the books.

"The fiscal and programmatic irregularities . . . are of such a magnitude that they bring into question the school's ability to manage its financial, business and academic affairs and its very solvency," Ackerman wrote in a letter to the board Friday.

Her concerns stemmed from a report prepared by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, which showed the school's checkbooks were unbalanced, some employees were not paid for the month of June, and the school lost about $250,000 through June 30.

The report also showed the school's budget didn't have a beginning balance, allotted less than $2 per student per month and showed no money for janitors, testing or staff development…

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