Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology

VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL LAW PUSH STATE TO MONITOR GWINNETT SCHOOLS CHARTER LOTTERY, DISCRIMINATION ALLEGED AT GWINNETT SCHOOL; February 15, 2011; Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) 

For the second time in four years the state is investigating the enrollment process of the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology after complaints the elite charter school illegally screened applicants.

The complaints stem from the charter school's 2011-12 application, which appeared on the Gwinnett County public school's website for weeks as parents rushed to enroll. The application asked for math grades, test scores, gifted education and disability status, English language comprehension -- all so a student could gain entry into a public charter school that by law must have open enrollment.

The application also said the school would not provide services for those with disabilities or offer English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes.

“Public schools have to provide those services,” said Louis Erste, state charter school division director. “ That is why you can’t put that on your forms. You would be breaking the law if you used the information to exclude the students.”…

Erste said he has no evidence Gwinnett intended to screen students. But in a document obtained through open records, the AJC found associate state superintendent Garry McGiboney admonished GSMST in late January for its application: “Our initial review indicates your current application does not comply with state or federal law or ... your charter contract."…

Tony Roberts, CEO of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, is not so certain. He visited the campus a few years ago when it was under its inaugural administration. Roberts said he was asked for advice on weeding out applicants who couldn't handle the rigor…

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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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Summit Charter School

ORLANDO-AREA SUMMIT CHARTER SCHOOL MUST FIX PROBLEMS OR CLOSE; April 08, 2008; Orlando Sentinel (FL) 

A Maitland charter school paid four administrators more than $520,000 last year and, even though the school was deeply in debt, allowed lavish and uncontrolled spending by two of those administrators, according to an audit by the Orange County school district.

The six-page audit, completed last month, found that Summit Charter School had defaulted on credit-card payments and almost ran out of money to pay its teachers and other bills…

According to both the audit and Claire Olds, a co-founder and the chairwoman of Summit's board of directors, none of the spending -- including the salaries, the travel and other irregularities -- had been approved by the school's eight-member board…

On March 4, the board suspended with pay three of the school's top officials, including Summit's president and co-founder Alan Smolowe. Also suspended were Steven Palmer, the principal; and Holly Wilkey, an office manager. Wilkey is Palmer's sister.

The audit showed that Palmer's salary was $217,654. Smolowe, who is also president of consulting firm Rothschild Development Corp., was paid $175,000. By comparison, according to school district attorney Frank Kruppenbacher, the average Orange County principal earns $83,000 a year...

Palmer's salary more than doubled since 2004, according to the audit, although it is not clear why. Palmer, identified by the school's Web site as an award-winning educator and former Holiday Inn food-and-beverage director, earned an average of $206,000 during the past three years.

The school also paid Wilkey $45,500 a year, while a bookkeeper, Yashmin Moledina, earned $122,000…

*Smolowe and Palmer bought two cars through the school -- without board approval -- and later traded them in for a $47,000 truck.

*The two men racked up "questionable expenditures" of more than $15,000 for meals, hotels, airlines and other travel expenses. Because there were no receipts, the auditors said, "we could not determine if any of the trips were for the benefit of the school."

All of this information, school district officials said, was difficult to ferret out because bookkeeping records were altered and Summit's tangled finances included eight accounts in four banks…

Summit's troubles are not unique among the state's 300 charter schools. A 2007 Orlando Sentinel investigation showed that many operate with little oversight and accountability. The stories showed, among other things, that about half of the state's charter schools had operating deficits or questionable business relationships with founders or board members. Florida authorized charter schools in 1996 as an alternative to public schools. Charter schools operate under a contract with local school districts and are funded with state money…

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Origins Montessori Charter School

DISTRICT PROBE CLOSES ORANGE CHARTER SCHOOL: THE FACILITY WAS MISMANAGED AND LACKED FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, OFFICIALS SAY; July 04, 2007; Orlando Sentinel (FL) 

The Orange County school district has shut down a charter school after officials said they found evidence of serious financial mismanagement and abuses of state education law at the beloved Orlando elementary.

Among the alleged irregularities: Origins Montessori Charter School appears during the past school year to have accepted state money for students who were not enrolled at the school and assigned students to two teachers who were not on the employment rolls, school-district officials said.

Officials also found that during the past school year, Origins Montessori could not account for $27,945 the school reported spending on training. Nor could it account for money the school collected for student lunches and from eight fundraising events, according to the district.

Julie Sanborn, the school's director, denied any wrongdoing…

Chandler said the district had been watching Origins and alerted Sanborn several times during the past few years that the school was in danger of violating state education laws…

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Cornerstone Prep

“LAUSD to recommend closing of charter school.” LA Times (CA), 2/24/2011

Officials will recommend the rare closing of a Los Angeles charter school for poor academic performance, the L.A. Unified School District has confirmed.

Cornerstone Prep, an elementary school in Florence, appeared Wednesday on a new list of 30 charter schools statewide that have consistently performed poorly.
The database, which included top-performing schools, was compiled by the California Charter Schools Assn…

Although charter schools are authorized by local school districts or other education agencies, they are managed independently and free from some restrictions that govern traditional schools.

This freedom comes in exchange for increased accountability, according to state law. But that accountability is not well-enforced, said Jed Wallace, chief executive of the charter association…

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Seven Hills Charter School

SEVEN HILLS CHARTER SCHOOL FAILS TO MEET BENCHMARKS, FACES PROBATION; February 26, 2011; Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA) 

WORCESTER —  The state commissioner of elementary and secondary education has recommended that Seven Hills Charter School be put on probation, according to a memo he sent to the state board.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is scheduled to vote on Seven Hills' charter Monday, and Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester recommends that the board impose several conditions on the charter's renewal, including that it demonstrate that it is an academic success by December 2012.

Mr. Chester's concerns include that the school has not met federal and state improvement benchmarks (called adequate yearly progress) in any subject since 2005, although some subgroups of students have met their goals in some subjects. The department's review of the school also found that eight teachers (one-fifth of instructional staff) were fired or left at the end of the 2009-2010 school year (including all of the fourth- and fifth-grade teachers) and that the school has had a different governance model for each of the last five years, although it has had the same leader throughout those years. During the 2009-10 school year, the school's board of trustees, which is supposed to have nine to 25 members, dwindled to four, three of whom quit the following year, when eight more joined….

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Brighter Choice charter schools in Albany (three schools)

ALBANY ORDERS CHARTER SCHOOL SIGNS DOWN: BANNERS ACCUSING CITY TREASURER OF RAISING TAXES ARE TOO BIG, OFFICIALS SAY; March 2, 2011, Times Union (Albany, NY)

Several large signs slung from three city charter schools this week targeting Treasurer Kathy Sheehan violate the city's sign law and were to come down Thursday, city and school officials said.

"Any organization has a right to express a political opinion. However, the size is an issue," said Bob Van Amburgh, a senior aide to Mayor Jerry Jennings. "If they want to express a particular opinion, that's fine, but they're going to have to change the size."

City code limits the size of temporary political signs to 16 square feet in a commercial district, Van Amburgh said.

The signs accused Sheehan of voting to raise property taxes -- a reference to the vote by a city economic development panel, Capital Resource Corp., that denied the Brighter Choice Foundation and a related nonprofit access to up to $42 million in tax-free bonds…

The signs -- which read "City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan just voted to raise your property taxes" -- were hung from the Brighter Choice School for Boys on North Lake Avenue, the Brighter Choice School for Girls on Central Avenue and the Albany Leadership Charter High School for Girls on Hackett Boulevard on Tuesday…

"I don't intend to respond," Sheehan said. "I've heard this type of tactic referred to as street theater. Economic development for the residents in the city of Albany is far too serious an issue for me to engage in street theater."

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