Frontier Virtual Charter High School

“Frontier cyber-school students: All we want is to learn.” Philadelphia Daily News (PA), 3/23/2012

CAREY STONE is living Ferris Bueller's life - just the complete opposite of it, actually.

Every morning, the high-school senior calls her school's administrators, trying to find out where they are, wondering when they'll have classes for her to attend or let her hand in a report on "The Great Gatsby."

And every day, her calls go unanswered. "I feel like they're just brushing me off," she said. Carey, 18, and her sisters, Rachel, 15, and Harmony, 14, are enrolled at the Philadelphia-based Frontier Virtual Charter High School.

The school laid off its teachers and principal on March 8 and hasn't held any classes since...

...The state Department of Education is finishing an investigation into Frontier over numerous questions about financial and academic problems that were detailed last week by the Daily News...

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“Cyber-school kids truant, failing, and teachers have been dumped.” Philadelphia Daily News (PA), 3/14/2012

It all sounded so good on paper: a "global high school of the 21st century," a cyber school that would teach about 300 students two languages and keep them constantly engaged in learning.

That was how John Craig pitched the Frontier Virtual Charter High School to state education officials two years ago...

Frontier opened in the fall. It fell apart before the spring...

The cyber school seems to have serious money woes and other problems:

* Frontier - which is receiving $435,520 from the Philadelphia School District this year to educate 54 city students - didn't pay its teachers or principal in August, September and most of October, according to several sources who have direct knowledge of the school's troubles.

Since then, teachers had been paid only half of their $40,000 salaries.

* Craig said on Thursday that he was working on a plan to get the staff back pay and address other financial problems before the end of the school year. The following day, he laid off all the school's teachers and the principal. He later posted part-time teaching jobs on Craigslist.

* Craig, also an associate pastor at the Philadelphia Revival Temple Church, said that Frontier doesn't "have really any students that are truant" and that many "are doing fine" academically.

But records viewed by the Daily News show that numerous students are habitually truant or failing their classes - or both.

* Bills have gone unpaid, including some in excess of $80,000 for K12, the company that created Frontier's curriculum, sources said.

* Staffers raised repeated concerns about whether Craig and the school's board of trustees - which includes former Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore - had violated the state's Sunshine Law by making decisions in private, sources said...

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The Green School

“Charter school, interrupted.” Chico News & Review (CA), 8/25/2011

“Sydney Cambra, who spent her sophomore year at the fledgling Chico Green School, scrambled this week to enroll at another school a week after classes had begun in the Chico Unified School District.

Cambra, who chose Chico High School, was forced to make the switch after CUSD revoked the Green School’s charter and reported it in violation of state law. Representatives at the school subsequently announced it was closing its doors to fall-term students.

Chico Unified School District says the charter high school has violated the Brown Act, California’s open-meetings law. The decision to pull the year-old institution’s charter was based also on its failure to become a candidate for accreditation after a spring visit by an accreditation committee, but it was the Brown Act allegations that dealt the hardest blow. Violations of state law trigger a cut-off in funding to charter schools that are run independently but financed by public monies...

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“Chico Green School could face losing charter.” Contra Costa Times via Chico Enterprise-Record (CA), 7/31/2011

CHICO -- A charter school that has had a series of directors, substantial turnover in the faculty and other alleged problems since it was launched about two years ago may now be facing the loss of its charter...

According to the agenda, Green School leadership will be asked to explain why the school has yet to establish a curriculum that would be adequate for a graduate to earn admittance to the University of California or the California State University system.

The school will also be questioned about allegations its governing board has failed to comply with the state's open meeting law...

The Green School, housed at 2424 Cohasset Road, was chartered in October 2009. According to its administrators, it is the only post-eighth-grade charter in the country inspired by the "Waldorf" theory of education, which aims to tailor the curriculum to the various ages of a youngster's development...

The CUSD report for the meeting includes a letter to Green School dated June 30 that says the Western Association of Schools and Colleges — the agency that accredits schools — would not accredit their operation...

The district is also charging that the 50-student school was chartered only to offer classes to ninth and 10th graders, but last year they had 11th graders enrolled.

Murray acknowledges the school had 11th graders last school year and that they have five 12th graders enrolled at present...

The school was brought before the CUSD board before, in September 2010, on many of the same allegations. At that time, the board issued a letter outlining what the school had to do to correct the problems.

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New Roots Charter School

ITHACA CHARTER SCHOOL LEARNS COST OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH SUNSHINE LAWS - NEW ROOTS NOW WELL-VERSED IN FOIL; March 11, 2011; Ithaca Journal (NY) 

Two years ago Pat Ehrich knew virtually nothing about the state Freedom of Information Law and Open Meetings Law. But after nightly readings, research and a court case, she considers herself a bit more knowledgeable.

"I am not quite an expert, but I do understand how to write a FOIL, what agencies are required to provide, how long they have to provide it and what I can ask for," Ehrich said. "There is really a goldmine of information out there and once you read that, it is pretty simple."

Ehrich, co-founder of the Coalition for Sustainable Schools, said she was opposed to New Roots Charter School since it opened in fall 2009. She did not believe the school garnered as many students as was reported, Ehrich said, and she decided to get the data to prove it.

Her diligence and New Roots' initial unresponsiveness became an expensive lesson for the school. Over time, several requests were not delivered to Erich in the time required under FOIL and the cost of non-compliance became clear: a court ordered the school to attend training sessions conducted by the state Committee on Open Government and awarded Ehrich more than $20,000 in attorney's fees, she said.

"The message is it is very, very expensive to decide to violate FOIL if someone calls you out on it," Ehrich said. "I thought I had no other choice and I was right."

Ehrich's education on FOIL and open meetings law came from a variety of sources: the Committee on Open Government's website, Google searches on court cases, conversations with lawyers and opinions written by Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government.

In January 2010, Ehrich said, it became apparent to her that New Roots was not going to hand over information she believed she had a right to see under the law. Aware it would be expensive and she might not win the case, Ehrich filed a suit against the school in June…

Ehrich's case claimed the school did not grant proper access to public records and excluded the public from board meetings not permitted to be closed under the law.

Madison County Supreme Court Justice Donald Cerio ruled that New Roots did not respond to FOIL requests in a timely fashion. Under FOIL, a written request for a public record must be acknowledged within five business days. The school failed to respond to the seven written requests from Ehrich dated April 29 within that time limit, according to court documents.

In addition, Cerio ruled that the school's board of trustees did not fully comply with open meetings law with respect to an executive session in April. As a result, the board of New Roots and its executive staff attended training sessions conducted by Freeman last week. It was the first such session ordered by a court in the state, Freeman said…

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Chase Academy for Communication Arts

CHARTER SCHOOL TO CLOSE FRIDAY-STATE FUNDING CUT OFF TO CHASE ACADEMY; February 25, 2010; The Columbus Dispatch (OH) 

A South Side charter school will lock its doors for good Friday afternoon, leaving students to find new schools over the weekend.

Parents and teachers at Chase Academy for the Communication Arts were given a 24-hour notice when letters were sent home at the end of today's school day…

In what appeared to be an illegal meeting, the school board gathered today with staff behind closed doors. After the staff was dismissed, the meeting was opened to the public and the school's closure was approved in minutes.

The Ohio Department of Education will conduct an emergency enrollment review Friday at the school, 1565 Integrity Dr. E., and state auditors have stepped in to conduct a financial review.

"I didn't know anything about it. Now I don't know where my kid is going to go," said Laretha Haynes, who was picking up her daughter, a third-grader at Chase, this afternoon…

After the board meeting, Allen-Davis refused to explain what the school had done with the money it was paid by the state. Parents and former teachers painted a picture of a school in turmoil.

Jatica Miles had three children enrolled in the school, but moved them to a private school in the fall.

"One day we came in and there was no lunch for the kids because they hadn't paid the lunch people," she said. "They had to go down the street and buy Pop-Tarts and orange juice."

A teacher left in December when she said the school wouldn't pay to provide legally required services for special-needs students. Teachers and students were fleeing throughout the year, said Britt Thompson, who worked as the school-intervention specialist…

The past three state financial audits of Chase showed that the school was having difficulty tracking its spending. The school had misspent thousands in tax dollars and couldn't properly account for tens of thousands in grant money, state auditors found…

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CHARTER SCHOOL MIGHT CLOSE AFTER STATE HALTS FUNDING: CHASE ACADEMY'S ENROLLMENT CORRECTION IS COSTLY; February 24, 2010; Columbus Dispatch (OH)

No more state money is coming to a Columbus charter school, which means it likely will close.

Chase Academy for Communication Arts reported an enrollment of as many as 189 students this school year. But in January, the South Side school told the state that its monthly counts had been off and that only 108 students actually attend.

In response, the state this month stopped sending per-pupil money to Chase. No more will be sent this school year. The state has paid Chase $458,000 since the school year began.

"Those kids weren't enrolled (at any point) the entire year. They were being overpaid since the school year began," said Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education…

J. Leonard Harding, executive director of the sponsoring organization, said he does not know whether parents have been notified. As of yesterday afternoon, Harding had not been able to reach the school-board president. He said ERCO wasn't aware of the enrollment error until recently.

"I'm trying to find out what's going on with this school," he said. "Now, we've got a mess here."

A state financial audit released last year showed that the school was having difficulty tracking its spending. Chase had overcharged needy students for school lunches and misspent thousands in tax dollars, and it couldn't properly account for tens of thousands in grant money, state auditors found.

Then in April, the school board fired school founder Celia Jones and said it suspected ethics violations. Board members have not detailed what those violations might have been…

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Promise Charter School

“San Diego Unified Closes Charter School Amid Violations.” 10News (CA), 8/3/2011

SAN DIEGO -- About 200 students will have to find a new school before the new school year begins after the San Diego Unified School District voted on Tuesday to close the Promise Charter School in Chollas View.

The school district said the Promise Charter School mismanaged its money, failed to comply with its charter and violated several state laws including laws requiring the school to report instances of child abuse.

Earlier this year, an investigation by the 10News I-Team exposed several reports of inappropriate behavior between former teacher Jose Valencia and his preteen female students...

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“District Takes Step Toward Closing School.” Voice of San Diego 8 Jun 2011

The San Diego Unified school board narrowly decided Tuesday night to take the first step toward shuttering Promise, a Chollas View charter school where a district investigation found a long list of violations, from keeping faulty financial statements to running afoul of open meeting laws.

The K-8 school has been bitterly split into two camps of parents and teachers — those who back the principal and those that don't. But one message rang out from everyone Tuesday night: Don't close our school.

Even parents who backed a school district investigation that found Promise had violated state laws on conflicts of interest, failed to follow rules on student suspensions, and a long list of other problems, said they didn't want to dissolve it. Despite turmoil, Promise ranks in the top 10 percent among schools with similar challenges statewide...

Attorney Paul Minney said Promise would gladly pay for an outside mediator to bring parents and teachers together to work through disputes. But the school district concluded that Promise had still done too little to remedy the problems, blaming some on past leaders and simply denying others.

The school board voted 3-2 to send a letter to Promise that would trigger a hearing where the school could make a case for why it should stay open...

The controversial step toward closing Promise comes as San Diego Unified has reassessed its relationship with its charter schools, tightening its oversight and offering charters-in-the-making less help. Promise has been ground zero for its debates over charter freedom and accountability. Such shutdowns are rare: The last time a charter school was shuttered by San Diego Unified was five years ago, though others have dissolved on their own after being warned of problems...

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CHARTER SCHOOL SHUTS OUT INVESTIGATOR; March 3, 2011; Voice of San Diego (CA) 

…San Diego Unified has been investigating Promise Charter, where a group of parents and teachers say Principal Jose Orozco has intimidated parents who disagree with him on school decisions by barring them from campus and harassing their children. Orozco and his supporters have denied the allegations and stood behind his choices.

The school district launched an investigation into the concerns last month, interviewing parents and staff and poring through documents. In a letter to the charter school board, Moises Aguirre wrote that when he came to the school in February, Orozco demanded that he leave and escorted him out.

Aguirre, who helps oversee charter schools for San Diego Unified and is assisting the investigation, wrote that keeping him out of the school was a violation of state law and grounds to revoke the charter.

"This conduct obstructs the District's ability to meet its oversight obligations and will not be tolerated," Aguirre wrote…

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PARENTS DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS AT TWO CHARTER SCHOOLS; February 2, 2011; Voice of San Diego (CA) 

Parents and teachers at a small charter school in Chollas View are demanding that San Diego Unified launch an investigation of their school after the principal and new board members made a string of controversial decisions.

The Promise Charter School board changed dramatically last summer after some of its existing members, including the principal, voted to eject members and later added new ones.

Parents and teachers upset with the leaders allege that Principal Jose Orozco has intimidated parents who disagreed with him on everything from scheduling to staffing by barring them from campus and telling them to leave the school, and harassed their children by questioning them about their parents.

Fourth grade teacher Vicky Toscano said after one teacher was fired and others were told to reapply for their jobs, teachers have been afraid to question irregularities at the school, such as allegedly enrolling students who are too young for kindergarten. Teachers at the school have petitioned to form a union…

The same demands were made by teachers and parents from Tubman, another charter that has been in turmoil. Tubman teachers recently joined the San Diego teachers union and have fought the firing of a teacher, alleging she was discriminated against as a labor leader.

"Charter schools cannot be mini-dictatorships that exist on the dime of the public taxpayer," Barrera said. "And we need to make sure that we guard against that."

Charter board members are often chosen by other board members, not elected like a school district board. While some charters opt to have representatives who are chosen by the parents or teachers, voluntarily putting it into their own rules, it is not required by law. That means that charter boards can sometimes veer from what parents or staff want, and it can be hard to say who speaks for the school…

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Dakota Academy

JUDGE'S RULING PERMANENTLY CLOSES DAKOTA ACADEMY: THE JUDGE SAID THE SPONSOR TERMINATED ITS CONTRACT CORRECTLY AND THAT IT HAD "GOOD CAUSE" TO DO SO; August 27, 2007; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) 

A Burnsville charter school will permanently close its doors after a judge's ruling that its sponsor correctly terminated its contract with the school.

Under state law, charter schools need sponsors to operate. Late last week, a Dakota County judge ruled on behalf of Dakota Academy's sponsor, Crossroads College of Rochester, and the Minnesota Department of Education, saying not only that the correct procedure was followed in ending the contract, but that Crossroads can "more than sustain its position that it had good cause to terminate its contract."…

The relationship between Dakota Academy and its sponsor started going south before the school even opened last fall, when Crossroads put the school on probation. Crossroads terminated its contract with the school in December because it said it was having problems getting financial data and other information from founders, Hennepin County District Judge Harry Crump and his wife, Faith…

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TROUBLE MOUNTS AT DAKOTA ACADEMY; THE BURNSVILLE CHARTER SCHOOL, FOUNDED BY HENNEPIN COUNTY DISTRICT JUDGE HARRY CRUMP AND HIS WIFE, MAY CLOSE THIS SUMMER; May 22, 2007; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Hennepin County District Judge Harry Crump and his wife, Faith, founded a Burnsville charter school to provide an innovative way to reach students who weren't being served in public schools. But less than a year after opening, Dakota Academy may have to close its doors amid allegations by its sponsor and a charter-school evaluation group that it failed to provide access to financial records and violated the state's Open Meeting Law at a March 26 meeting during which two new board members were appointed.

The sponsor, Crossroads College of Rochester, a small private Christian school, plans to pull out on June 30. Although Dakota Academy officials say they're seeking a new sponsor, if the school doesn't find one, state law requires it to close…

Many concerns about the school are detailed in an April report from the Minnesota Sponsor Assistance Network, a group that evaluates charter schools. The report says the school board held an unannounced, closed meeting on March 26 to appoint two new members, a potential violation of the state's Open Meeting Law. The report also says the school hasn't fully used its financial software, so that officials can't tell if they are on budget. The school has also gone through five academic directors, the report said, which suggests "either ... the hiring process needs significant improvement or the manner in which the academic director is treated has gone awry." Faith Crump declined to comment on the staff turnover, saying it was a personnel issue.

Parents learned in March that the school was losing its sponsorship. After calls from them and a meeting with the state Department of Education, Crossroads agreed to reconsider withdrawing its sponsorship if certain conditions were met. That included a financial audit and the resignation of the board and Faith Crump by May 11. Neither happened. Teachers at the school have also raised concerns about management. Seven of the school's 10 teachers signed a March 30 letter to Faith Crump, asking her to resign. The school hired a new executive director Thursday, and Crump said she'll spend two weeks shifting her duties. Then she'll have no further role with the school, unless the board hires her as the business director, she said. Faith Crump said the school is in discussion with several potential sponsors. Parents and students are watching the upheaval at the school with mixed emotions…

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