Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School

“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must move on.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013

NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the handwriting on the wall last year with the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School in Newark when federal officials filed a lawsuit against the school...

The embattled charter school, opened in 2007 by longtime activist Fredrica Bey, had been on probation for more than a year. The school is also facing a complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s office which contends Bey took $345,325 in federal grant money earmarked for programs to keep "at-risk" youths off of the streets and instead used it used it to pay bills for the Women In Support of the Million Man March, a non-profit community group she started in 1995.

The state also expressed concerns about the conflicts of interest between the school’s leadership and the school’s agreement to lease space from WISOMMM...

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“Special report: Born in hope, Newarkcharter school now embroiled in controversy.” The Star-Ledger (NJ), 5/5/2013

NEWARK — Linda Newton enrolled her 8-year-old son at Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School to shield him from the ills that afflict many of Newark’s regular public schools.

She has regretted that decision every day since.

Last summer, nearly all of the troubled school’s two dozen teachers resigned, and students were hastily relocated to a downtown building that parents say is not equipped for their children. Some students climb five flights of stairs to reach their classrooms in the hulking former church.

Other kids have no classrooms at all, sharing space in a vast multipurpose room where academic instruction is often interrupted by the clapping and stomping of a dance class some 50 feet away.

Parents and teachers complain of a shortage of textbooks, an insufficient heating system and a lack of discipline for rowdy students, leading to fights and bullying.

At least half of the 339 kids enrolled on the first day of school have left, though some have been replaced with new recruits, the parents and teachers said. Test scores are among the bottom 10 percent in the state...

But a Star-Ledger examination of the school and its leadership reveals a faltering institution that provides bare-bones learning facilities while using millions of dollars in state and federal aid, bolstering a real estate fiefdom controlled by the school’s founder, Fredrica Bey.

A fiery community activist with political pull, Bey has come under intense scrutiny by both the state Department of Education and the U.S. Justice Department, which accuses her of fraud in a civil suit. That case, unrelated to Adelaide Sanford, is expected to come to trial later this year, barring a last-minute settlement.

The Star-Ledger review found that school officials — including Bey’s daughter and longtime friends — approved hugely inflated rental payments to Women in Support of the Million Man March, a community group Bey founded, for space the school doesn’t use. An attorney who specializes in nonprofit law said the arrangement smacks of a "sham transaction."

At the same time, investigators with the state Education Department determined Bey may have broken the law by using a possibly invalid school lease as the bedrock document to obtain an $8.27 million loan. The investigators recommended that the Division of Criminal Justice look into the matter.

The newspaper’s examination — encompassing court records, Education Department reports, financial documents and dozens of interviews — also found a pattern of recalcitrance by Bey and school officials, who repeatedly ignored state directives, according to documents obtained under the Open Public Records Act.

In particular, the state has accused Adelaide Sanford for more than a year of refusing to comply with regulations, turn over records or eliminate clear conflicts of interest, chiefly the dual roles Bey held as executive director of both the school and her group, known in the community by its acronym, WISOMMM...

Revered by some and feared by others, Bey, 68, has built a reputation as a powerful figure in New Jersey’s largest city, with friends in political, cultural and activist circles, along with a direct line to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

But she has also periodically drawn scrutiny from law enforcement officials investigating allegations of fraud. Most recently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year sued Bey and WISOMMM, alleging violations of the False Claims Act...

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Boys Preparatory Nashville

"Case of Boys Prep shows charter schools face same startup challenges."  The City Paper (TN), 6/21/2013

Dozens of students have left the school. Parents have accused the executive director of assaulting two students. And although the year-end test scores have yet to be released, school leaders say they won’t be pretty...

Rivalries within the leadership at the school shifted attention from the kids in the building to the adults in the boardroom. Meanwhile, handling the school’s 100 seventh-grade boys — a third of whom have some form of learning disability — proved tougher than the founders fathomed...

The Boys Prep board also began hemorrhaging members. In the charter’s short history, 18 people have left the board, some of whom said they felt forced out or were exhausted from dealing with the school’s internal politics.

While The City Paper reached out to current and former members of the Boys Prep board, many never responded, and almost all who did reply refused to talk about their experience on the record, if at all. That includes Monica Davis, an instructor at MTSU who resigned from the board this month after finishing two-thirds of her three-year term. She, too, refused to comment.

“The turnover that they’ve had is primarily related to their inability to settle on strong leadership and consistent board leadership at the beginning,” said Alan Coverstone, MNPS’ charter school guru and the executive director of the district’s Office of Innovation, which oversees charters.

“Lots of groups have good ideas about what a school would look like, but actually running a school is a bigger challenge,” he said. “This is a startup organization. It’s a school. It’s a nonprofit. It’s a lot of things all at once. If you don’t have a pretty good board collegiality — and a pretty good board understanding of how organizations work — it’s a big red flag that we look for,” he said.

That red flag waved high shortly before Boys Prep opened its doors. Three months ahead of the first day of school, Kennedy narrowly survived a no-confidence vote from the Boys Prep school board...

In the meantime, two teachers provided by the Teach for America alternative teaching certification program left the school for more stable gigs elsewhere, leaving Boys Prep suddenly short on staff...

Concerned with possible tinkering with test scores and other misconduct, Kennedy fired the popular school principal, the third since the school’s inception.

While the school board backed the move, it was the first in a series of events that would eventually lead to the founder being ousted from the school...

At least 39 of the 100 students who started with Boys Prep left last school year, and 16 others entered. The number of students cycling out gives the school one of the highest attrition rates in the district. Braddock said he counseled some boys out of the school because it was a good move for those individuals at the time, but would urge them to consider coming back...

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“Charter School Leader Comes Under Fire Over Discipline Methods.” NewsChannel5 (TN), 2/12/2013

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tempers got heated Tuesday night at a charter school board meeting in South Nashville where parents say enough is enough.  The founder and president of Nashville Boys Prep has come under fire for his methods of discipline during the first semester of the school year.

Tuesday night's meeting went on for three hours.  The vast majority of that meeting focused on allegations against Dr. Martin Kennedy.  He's been on administrative leave from the school since December. 

That's when DCS and Metro Police opened an investigation into accusations of abuse.  Several parents made their case in front of the board Tuesday night...

DCS has completed its investigation and the agency found the allegations into the accusations of abuse against Kennedy to be unfounded. Metro Police still haven't come to a conclusion in their case. 

Dr. Kennedy told NewsChannel 5 he fully expects to be reinstated as president of Boys Prep.

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“DCS investigating Nashville charter school founder.” WSMV (TN), 12/19/2012

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - The leader of a Nashville charter school is facing investigation over claims he assaulted two students.

Police and the Department of Children's Services are interviewing students and teachers to find out whether Dr. Martin Kennedy went too far when it comes to discipline at Boys Preparatory Charter School.

"I do not feel this individual is stable at all to be around kids. He has no self control, by no means," said school parent Lynn Mullins.

Mullins said her seventh-grade son is scared to go back to Boys Prep after, she claims, he was assaulted by Kennedy...

Marciecilla Giddens said her son was also attacked by the same teacher...

Both mothers have filed police reports, claiming Kennedy - a teacher and the founder of the small south Nashville charter school - took discipline too far...

Neither police nor DCS has commented on the investigation into the parents' allegations...

Also, according to that board member, Kennedy is no longer teaching in the classroom, but as founder of the school, he still has an affiliation with the school...

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Noble Network of Charter Schools

“Chicago charter schools rake in thousands in 'disciplinary fees.'” MSNBC, 1/3/2013

As public funding for Chicago charter schools increases, so do questions about accountability and governance within these publicly-funded–but privately-run–institutions.

According to the Chicago Public Schools’ 2013 budget, charter schools will receive nearly $483 million in funding, up more than 13% from funding in 2012. The resources are significant for the expanding charter school network within the city–particularly Noble Network of Charter Schools–which serves nearly 8,000 students across a dozen campuses. The organization’s most recent non-profit filing shows that Noble receives the lion’s share of CPS funds allocated to charter schools, and they are expected to receive $69.9 million in 2013.

But a recent report raises red flags on the lack of accountability at one of Noble’s charter schools. Marsha Godard, a parent at Chicago Bulls College Prep, told DNAinfo Chicagothat she paid nearly $2,000 in fees to keep her son at school...

Godard’s son was fined for various offenses, including an unkempt appearance and not making eye contact. Other items in Noble’s strict student code include ”chewing gum, possessing soft drinks or energy drinks like Red Bull, eating chips, not tucking in a shirt after being warned and carrying a permanent marker.”

This is not the first time the Noble Network has received criticism for the fees. In February, parents protested the Noble Network for charging fees as disciplinary action. According to the Chicago Tribune, Noble raked in approximately $200,000 in disciplinary fees  in 2011 and almost $400,000 since the 2008-09 school year...

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Antioch Charter Academy II

“East Bay teacher duct taped boy's mouth shut,claim alleges.” Contra Costa Times (CA), 2/20/2013

ANTIOCH -- The family of an 8-year-old boy filed a claim Tuesday alleging the boy's third-grade teacher duct-taped his mouth shut and that another teacher punished him by placing a chair over him and sitting on it in separate incidents earlier this school year.

Another student's hands were duct-taped by Antioch Charter Academy II teacher Michelle Mankewich in November, the claim alleges.

All four charter school employees who witnessed or learned of the November incidents failed to perform their mandated reporting duties and notify authorities about them, the claim alleges. The charter school principal -- the mother of one of the teachers alleged to have abused the boy -- conducted an internal investigation that found no wrongdoing.

"These are highly inappropriate forms of restraint on a student. It's abusive. I'd call it child abuse," said Larry Cook, the Walnut Creek attorney who filed the claim. "There's got to be other ways to control kids in a classroom."

The Antioch boy, through his mother Luvy Torres, filed the claim against the Antioch district, the charter school, The Learner-Centered School, Inc. (the nonprofit that operates the school), Mankewich, teacher Marianne Dubitsky, teacher Julie Fajeau and Principal Jeannie Dubitsky alleging they violated his constitutional rights, assaulted him and discriminated against him, among other charges. The boy's family seeks more than $10,000 in damages...

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Sherwood Charter School

“Sherwood parents intend to file claim against Sherwood Charter School.” The Oregonian (OR), 3/15/2013

Three parents of current and former students at Sherwood Charter School intend to file a tort claim against the school.

In a letter of intent dated March 15, the parents' attorney alleges the school board did not protect students against a fellow student's death threats, threats of sexual assault and violence...

According to the Oregon Department of Education, Sherwood School District and the charter school have not received substantiated complaints since 2008. However, a Sherwood family filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and another family in August 2011 claiming administrators failed to intervene in a bullying case...

Keith Halasy, a Sherwood Charter Board member, released a statement that said the school has appropriately handled student safety and discipline issues in contrast to "a mischaracterization of school process in recent news reports."...

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Northwest Preparatory Charter School

“Police: 3 charged with felony injury to 7th grader who wanted to use the bathroom.” KHOU (TX), 3/7/2013

HUMBLE, Texas -- Three staffers of a Humble-area charter school are facing felony injury to a child charges after allegedly over-disciplining a seventh grade girl.

"Her arm was bent behind her back in a way that her wrist was up by her shoulder blades pretty high on her back," said Humble Police Department Det. Jackie Blanchard, the lead investigator in the case...

Police say it started in a classroom when the 13-year-old female victim asked to go to the restroom. She was told no.

“It was up to the teacher to set the restroom breaks and every time someone would talk in the class he would change the time as a form of punishment. So she was not allowed for a long period of time to go to the restroom. She just finally had to go," said Det. Blanchard...

In all, the girl says her arm was bent backwards three different times. She was treated at a local hospital for arm injuries and referred to an orthopedist for additional treatment...

Humble police have responded to the school 23 times this year...

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Harriet Tubman Charter School

“Charter schools boot 2 ‘troubled’ kindergartners; Disciplined kids given psychiatric suspensions.” NY Daily News, 4/30/2012 

Two kindergartners were yanked from separate charter schools after staff deemed them too troubled to attend, their lawyer and parents said...

The students — one of them on her first day at a new school — were removed after being placed on so-called “psychiatric suspensions,” according to Nelson Mar, who is representing the two families.

In 5-year-old Brianna Pena’s case, relatives say the Bronx girl was probably just anxious because she had just been transferred to the Harriet Tubman Charter School. She didn’t know anyone there and her surroundings were new...

The medical staff at Lincoln Hospital found there was nothing wrong with the girl and within days she was allowed back inside the school.

Soon after, the girl was left unsupervised and found wandering outside the building...

Generally, schools are required to evaluate students with special needs or behavior problems. Then the schools are supposed to address the students’ needs through counseling or other means...

“The concern here is that schools may be pathologizing typical childhood behavior simply because a kindergartner is having trouble separating from their parents for the first time,” said Mar, of Legal Services NYC — Bronx...

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South Bronx Classical Charter School

“Charter schools boot 2 ‘troubled’ kindergartners; Disciplined kids given psychiatric suspensions.” NY Daily News, 4/30/2012  

Two kindergartners were yanked from separate charter schools after staff deemed them too troubled to attend, their lawyer and parents said.

The students — one of them on her first day at a new school — were removed after being placed on so-called “psychiatric suspensions,” according to Nelson Mar, who is representing the two families...

Generally, schools are required to evaluate students with special needs or behavior problems. Then the schools are supposed to address the students’ needs through counseling or other means...

In another case, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating the suspension last fall of Christian Charriez, 6, a special-needs student at South Bronx Classical Charter School.

The school suspended Christian four times — and told him the last time that he had to stay out until he received a psychiatric analysis and diagnosis, which is still under way.

Principal Lester Long said the school invited Christian back to school and contacted his mother multiple times, but a letter from the family’s lawyer shows the school was contacted multiple times without response.

After a month out of class, the boy transferred to a public school, his mom said, where he was assigned a teacher’s aide to help him, and he now loves going to school instead of dreading it...

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Friendship Public Charter School

“Teacher at Friendship Public Charter School Accused of Taping Visually Impaired Student To Chair; Teacher has been placed on administrative leave.” WTTG FOX 5 (DC), 3/8/2012

WASHINGTON - A teacher at Friendship Public Charter School has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly taping a nine-year-old visually impaired student to a chair.

The alleged incident happened Wednesday afternoon during an after school tutoring program at the Friendship Blow Pierce Junior Academy Campus in Northeast.

Christian Washington, a fourth grade student, says he asked his teacher if he could get up, and when he did for a second time, the teacher first threatened to tape him to his chair, and then did. Washington says he was wrapped with the tape several times around his chest and his legs. He says he was embarrassed.

"She was laughing. Everybody in the class was laughing at me," Washington says...

Terik Washington says Christian is visually impaired, and she placed him at Friendship because he had been taunted by other students at his previous school. She says it has been just as bad at Friendship, and now for a teacher to cross the line, she's heartbroken...

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Emily Fisher Charter School

“Emily Fisher officials make case to keep school open.” The Times of Trenton (NJ), 3/24/2012

TRENTON — An attorney representing Emily Fisher Charter School has appealed the state Department of Education’s decision this month not to renew the 14-year-old school’s charter. The school is hoping to prevent the shutdown until officials can make their case for keeping Emily Fisher open.

The DOE’s decision, which effectively forces the school to shut down by this June, was based on what the department said were serious problems with uncertified teachers, very low test scores, student discipline, and general school management...

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“State orders Trenton charter school to shut down.” The Times of Trenton (NJ), 3/3/2012

TRENTON — Following a slew of internal problems including poor student performance, Emily Fisher Charter School, in operation for 13 years, has been ordered to shut down by the state Department of Education.

As part of statewide actions following audits of charter schools, the department announced plans to deny the renewal of Emily Fisher’s charter, while placing the Paul Robeson Charter School for the Humanities on probation for failure to meet stated goals and objectives...

A state investigation of Emily Fisher in November uncovered “ongoing issues, including failure to complete state mandated reports, poor student performance, a high number of behavioral incidents, low attendance rates, teacher certification issues, leadership concerns and curricular issues,” according to a letter from the department.

A similar audit of Paul Robeson also revealed problems, including “failure to complete state mandated reports, dismal student performance, leadership concerns and high staff turnover,” according to a letter from the department...

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Harmony Science Academy - Houston Northwest

“Texas Charter School Accused of Racism.” Courthouse News Service, 12/13/2012

HOUSTON (CN) - A Houston charter school made minority students clean toilets with toothbrushes, and a teacher told an 8-year-old student "she could not be in the front of the line .... because black people should be in the back of the line," her parents claim in Federal Court.

Darrel and Donna Davis sued the Harmony Science Academy NW, three of its teachers, its principal and assistant principal on behalf of their daughter, L.

The Davises say they "began to notice extreme moods of sadness and withdrawal from their daughter" in December 2010.

They say L "began to express horror at returning to Harmony Science Academy and that she wanted to transfer."..

The Davises claims the principal, Mr. Coban, "has acted with indifference and has had numerous complaints of discrimination towards minority, specifically a televised news piece that discovered that the teachers had minority students cleaning toilets with toothbrushes."

Houston's CBS affiliate KHOU 11 News broadcast a story in October in which a parent said the Harmony Science Academy NW punished her daughter, a fourth-grader, by making her clean toilets, baseboards and floors with a disinfectant wipe, and no gloves...

The Davises seek punitive damages for civil rights violations...

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“Outraged mother says daughter forced to scrub school toilets for tardies.” KHOU 11 News (TX), 10/5/2011

HOUSTON -- Parents of some students at the Harmony Science Academy Charter School in Northwest Harris County say their children were forced to clean restrooms as punishment.

Monica Lane said her daughter, Meagan, a fourth grade student at the school, was punished to Saturday school for getting five tardies. However, Lane said Meagan did not get not extra time in the classroom, but got time in the restroom.

"Yeah it was gross," said Meagan Dunn.

She was not alone, her mother said.

"Kids, as young as second grade, were scrubbing the toilets on Saturday," Lane said. "The baseboards and walls, and the door handles and the floors."

Meagan said the cleaning duties were done using just a disinfectant wipe and no gloves.

Administrators at the Harmony Science Academy issued a statement on the matter saying:

"Never under any circumstances is any student required or expected to clean the restrooms at any of our facilities."

The school said it encourages students to do chores to help them to care for their community. The school admitted that students did clean restrooms, but said it was just an inappropriate joke from a teacher taken literally by some students.

"How would you feel as a parent if your child was made to scrub the toilet without any kind of gloves, without any parent knowledge," Lane asked.

Beside the obvious cleanliness issues, Meagan’s parents wondered about the lost educational opportunity.

“That could have been a time for tutoring or going over some of the class work or something like that," said Lane.

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School of Science and Technology Discovery

“Student Claims She Was Humiliated By Teacher Over Rosary.” KSAT (TX), 10/2/2008

SAN ANTONIO -- An eighth-grader at a northwest side charter school said she was humiliated by one of her teachers over her religious expression.

Kelsey, a 13-year-old at the School of Science and Technology's Discovery campus, said one of her teachers humiliated her in front of her classmates while repeatedly questioning her religious beliefs because she wore a Catholic rosary.

"She told me to take it off, and I told her no," Kelsey said. "So she took me to the principal's office and he took it away from me, and told me to get it at the end of the day."

Kelsey said she continued to wear the rosary to school only to have the unidentified teacher question her religious beliefs.

"She has this teacher who is picking on her (about) something that's none of her business, and no one will speak to me about it or address the situation," said Marleana Ayala, Kelsey's mother.

School officials refused to speak about the situation, but did release a statement to KSAT 12 News.

"Students have no problem exercising freedom of speech and freedom of religion, as long as they follow the general school's rules and do not interfere with the rights of others," the statement read. The statement did not elaborate on the exact school policy when pertaining to religious items.

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IDEA Alamo

“Family removes boy from IDEA over response to health needs.” The Monitor (TX), 10/16/2011

No teacher ever suggested Arnold Lopez was a liar when he attended the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district, the 11-year-old said recently.

But at IDEA Public Schools — where students cannot leave class during the first and last 20 minutes of instruction — a substitute doubted the sixth-grader truly “needed” to rush to the restroom on Sept. 8.

“I told her I’m a diabetic. … My kidneys work overtime to lower my (blood sugar) levels,” Arnold said. “She said, ‘Are you making that up?’

“Who would make up something like that? How many kids know about kidneys?” he asked. “I was literally about to just go (when) she walked fast — I heard her heels — and blocked the door with her body.”

Arnold said he never faced such discomfort at PSJA’s Napper Elementary, where every absent teacher left a note specifically explaining his condition to substitutes.

The humiliating incident could have been prevented, mother Marina Lopez said, if campus leaders and staff met with her before his transfer to the charter school’s Alamo campus in August.

“Before day one, IDEA told me they’d do whatever it takes” to accommodate his special needs, she said. “That never happened, (and) we had to pull him out...

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El Rancho Charter School

“Rebecca Black, ‘Friday’ Singer, Leaves Anaheim School Due To Bullying.” CBS Los Angeles (CA), 8/11/2011

ANAHEIM (CBS) — Rebecca Black says endless teasing and harassment from classmates forced her to pull out of El Rancho Charter School in Anaheim.

The 14-year-old, whose much-buzzed video for her song “Friday” became a YouTube phenomenon, is now being homeschooled by her mother.

“When I walk by they’ll start singing ‘Friday’ in a really nasally voice,” Black tells ABC News. “Or, you know, they’ll be like, ‘Oh hey, Rebecca, guess what day it is?”

After the video’s release in March, it hit 167 million views, which is roughly half of the population of the United States, ABC News points out.

But it was heavily ridiculed for the song’s lyrics (“Kickin’ in the front seat / Sittin’ in the back seat / Gotta make my mind up / Which seat can I take?”), and many critics questioned if it was the worst song ever.

Black, however, can count a few celebs as fans including Simon Cowell, who told her that he “loves her and the fact that she’s gotten so much publicity.”

“People are so upset about the song, but I think it’s hysterical,” he said.

Black, who recently stepped out at the Teen Choice Awards, was also invited to star in Katy Perry’s music video for “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” She even joined Perry onstage at her Los Angeles tour stop last week, where the two sang a duet to “Friday.”

“It’s hard because everyone wants to say, ‘Oh my God, I’m this big star now,’” Black said. “But I don’t see it that way. I’m still the same 14-year-old girl that loves to hang out with her friends.”

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The Classical Academy

“Special report by state levels criticisms at TCA.” The Gazette (CO); May 08, 2009

Complaints that The Classical Academy's insular community created an environment where racism and religious intolerance were allowed to go unchecked raises questions about whether the charter school is welcoming to all students, according to a report released Friday.

The report to the Colorado Department of Education, triggered by parents' complaints, also found fault with the school's accounting practices, noted possible conflicts of interest with administrators who run a charter-school consulting business on the side and said the school failed to properly respond to allegations of sexual and physical assaults and bullying.

It concluded that while the school has high academic achievement, the "investigation revealed major areas of concern about management, safety and security of students."...

The CDE paid independent consultant James Sauls, of Colorado Springs, $9,500 to look into allegations made against the TCA by parents who said they turned to the state because the school and Academy School District 20 ignored their issues. TCA is a D-20 charter school with about 2,900 students on three campuses...

Friday's report said TCA failed to follow procedures regarding reports of sexual and physical assaults. In the Reece case, the report said, there was no evidence that an in-house investigation had been conducted, as school officials claimed. The police investigation was inconclusive, the report said...

[TCA board President Matt Carpenter]  and [school principal] Hyatt said they both were aware that chief financial officer Doug Hering and high school principal Peter Hilts started a charter-school consulting business, Advantage Insights Consulting Network LLC, in December 2007.

The report questioned whether TCA should have paid for their travel to charter school conferences that might have benefited their business.

Hyatt said he sent them to conferences for the benefit of TCA and it was appropriate for the school to pay. He said sometimes he and other staff attend such conferences as well.

The report also said the two had used school equipment to print business cards, but spokeswoman Susan Tillotson said TCA was reimbursed within the last month for those costs. She didn't know when the cards were printed.

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Read more: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2009/05/dirty-and-dangerous-secrets-of.html

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Guffey Community Charter School

"Former Guffey Community Charter School volunteer arrested.” Fairplay Flume (CO), 08/19/2011

A former volunteer at the Guffey Community Charter School turned himself in to the Teller County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 15 on a Park County warrant stemming from allegations that he abused a child in connection with a school trip.

Robert Alfieri, 55, of Florissant, has arrest charges against him for crimes against at-risk juveniles, a class 6 felony, and child abuse and third degree assault, both class 1 misdemeanors...

Becky Minnis, the Fairplay-based Re-2 School District superintendent, who has some degree of authority over the charter school, which is within Re-2, said Alfieri has been a volunteer and his wife taught at the charter school in Guffey.

"His wife was a teacher there, and she has since resigned," Minnis said. "She resigned at the end of the school year."

Alfieri didn't return a phone message seeking comment on the case...

According to the arrest warrant, Alfieri was a volunteer snowboard instructor teaching Guffey Community Charter School students how to snowboard at Ski Cooper...

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Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School

“News 2 Investigation uncovers lawsuits involving Kenilworth Charter School.” WBRZ (LA), 7/28/2011

BATON ROUGE- Two lawsuits single-out a charter school in Baton Rouge, and the company that runs it, for abuse and mistreatment.

Teachers allege discrimination, and at least one parent says her child was assaulted and treated unfairly.

Kenilworth Science and Technology is run by the Pelican Educational Foundation, which also runs Abramson Charter in New Orleans. Abramson was closed two weeks ago to investigate allegations of a similar nature. The state expanded its investigation less than a week later to include Pelican and Kenilworth.

At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, three teachers told a court they were wrongfully terminated from Kenilworth Charter School. They say they were discriminated against because of their gender and their religion and they were harassed until they were fired.

This month, a mother filed a lawsuit detailing, what she calls, neglect and mistreatment of her Kenilworth student. The neglect included one teacher ignoring the child's weak bladder condition, forcing her to urinate on herself, and sit in the urine until class was over.

The mistreatment involved the child being punished for hitting another student just to stop him from touching her inappropriately.

In both instances, and in several others like them, Dr. Shirl Gilbert, who was in charge of charter schools in the Baton Rouge area at the time, tried to help.

He said, "While I think there might be hints of discrimination with relation to some of the actions that Kenilworth administrators took, in every instance, they were able to point to some substantive performance inadequacy that they said was the reason."

Gilbert says after concerns were not addressed, by the school or managers at the charter group, and finding questionable religious practices on campus, exclusively for Turkish staff members, he went to then State Superintendent Paul Pastorek...

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“Probe opened at school; BR charter has link to troubled site.” The Advocate (LA) 7/21/11

State Department of Education officials said Wednesday night they will launch an investigation of Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School.

The Baton Rouge school is operated by the Pelican Educational Foundation.

The foundation also runs Abramson Science and Technology Charter School in New Orleans, which was closed last week amid allegations of sexual abuse and other problems.

The fact that both schools are run by Pelican means that operations at Kenilworth need to be reviewed, said Ollie Tyler, acting state superintendent of education...

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Read more about Abramson Science and Technology Charter School HERE.

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Princeton House Charter School

“Princeton House charter faces second restraint lawsuit; Family says staff 'abused,' 'humiliated' and frightened their 6-year-old daughter, who was bruised while being restrained.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 7/29/2011

Princeton House Charter School, which this spring settled a lawsuit alleging abuse of a student, has been sued by a second family.

In the new suit, two parents, identified only by their initials, say that their 6-year-old daughter was badly bruised while being restrained at the school in January and that she was grabbed and dragged by staff in November.

The Orlando school, which serves students with moderate to severe autism, in spring settled a 2010 suit that alleged a 15-year-old boy was injured by staff. A settlement of $74,465.74 was placed into a special-needs trust for Rose and Lawrence Casto's son, Christopher, and the parents were awarded an additional $20,000...

"They just abused my son, hiding behind the word 'restraint,'" Rose Casto said at the time. Restraint is a controversial practice of physically holding students with disabilities when they act out...

The new lawsuit, which was filed in federal court this month, also centers on the use of restraint.

In the January incident, the lawsuit alleges that the student suffered extensive bruising after a staff member pulled her sweater over the back of a special wooden chair. The chair, known as a Rifton chair, is intended to support and hold students who can't sit well on their own...

In the November incident, the same child was forced into a fabric tunnel, which made her panic, and later was dragged and forced onto a trampoline during a class activity, the lawsuit alleges. The suit says the staff at the school were not properly trained and that the school knew of "the unlawful abuse, restraint and seclusion of its special-needs students" and failed to act...

However, Daniel Cotter, an attorney for the girl's family, said the suit also aims to draw attention to what he called "systemic problems at this institution."...

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Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School

“Charter's board ousts its founder: Vuong Thuy had been the subject of amonth of complaints from parents and staff about the school.” Philadelphia Inquirer 5/8/11

Vuong Thuy, the founding chief executive of an academically successful North Philadelphia charter school, was toppled by his handpicked board after a monthlong campaign by parents and staff.

The board of the Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School last week voted unanimously to remove Thuy from his leadership position after being besieged by complaints of a rodent infestation, unsanitary bathrooms, and a "toxic" climate in which staff, parents, and students were berated and demeaned.

Parents and staff also expressed concern that charter school money was being drained to represent Thuy in connection with a federal probe and a state ethics investigation.

Stephanie Johnson, who helped mobilize other parents, said she was even more shocked when the school produced a record indicating it had spent $222,000 in the last 12 months to represent Thuy in various investigations...

The investigations were spawned by a charter school report that the City Controller's Office released last spring. The controller questioned Thuy's ties to a related organization that owns Multi-Cultural's building...

The charter has a strict behavior code, focuses on preparing students for college, and boasts a record of academic success. The school has exceeded state benchmarks for four consecutive years. In 2009-10, 77 percent of 11th graders scored at grade level or higher in math, and 61.5 percent in reading...

But staff - including English teacher Seth Carter and programs coordinator Frank Mannino - said they had become increasingly disenchanted over what they described as Thuy's dictatorial leadership style, explosive temper, and demeaning behavior.

Last winter, Thuy stormed out of a meeting with parents who were concerned that a no-cellphone policy left their children unable to call for help after several students were jumped near the school.

Carter said Thuy "flipped out" and then walked out on a group of 30 people: "He never got past the first question."

At a separate schoolwide meeting, Thuy told the students, who are largely African American, that they were barred from bringing cellphones to school because they would use them to sell drugs, several staff members said.

Multi-Cultural is one of 18 local charter schools being investigated by federal authorities, according to sources with knowledge of that probe.

As a charter school official, Thuy is covered by the state ethics law, which bars conflicts of interest. He is also being investigated by the state Ethics Commission, sources at the school said...

Teachers, who said they feared losing their jobs if they spoke up or asked questions about Thuy, have signed cards indicating their interest in being represented by a union. An election is scheduled for this month...

The school's five-year charter renewal will go before the School Reform Commission during the next school year...

Parents and teachers said they had a difficult time communicating with the board. It meets only four times a year at 8 a.m., and Thuy tightly controlled access.

Carter said Thuy told staff that if they wanted to talk to the board, they would have to talk to him. He told them he would relay information to the board and then report back.

"He told parents the same thing," Mannino said...

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