Quest Academy (NV)

“Quest Academy board considers disciplining other school employees.” KTNV 13 News (NV), 1/30/2013

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- It was another late night on Tuesday at Quest Academy...

Principal Connie Jordan was fired for abusing her authority and using taxpayer dollars for personal gain...

A former employee wrote a letter to the board saying the high school administration is incompetent and self-serving...

Also facing action Tuesday night was business manager Robin Vitiello and office manager Melissa Hester. Board members told Hester that school video cameras caught her and Jordan destroying records in Jordan's office last Monday when the school was closed for Martin Luther King Day.

The auditor that Quest hired found checks cut to Robin Vitiello that appeared to be unapproved bonuses. There are also allegations that she was forced to kick some of that money back to former principal Jordan.

Board member Linda Kuhn pointed out, however, that they're not the only entity investigating allegations and that this may be far from over as the case is in the hands of the Attorney General...

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“Quest Academy audit sparks emergency action.”KTNV 13 News (NV), 1/22/2013

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- ... Contact 13 began reporting on Quest in November amid allegations from Miller and other parents and staff about misuse of school money.

Though the State Public Charter School Authority investigated the allegations and found evidence of fiscal malfeasance and abuse of authority, the Quest governing board hired a private auditor to investigate further.

Almost $270,000 tax dollars are in question.

Contact 13 obtained the just-released forensic audit of Quest's finances...

Some of the report centers around Quest Principal Connie Jordan and $15,000 she took in June 2011. The auditor found her explanations for that money are bogus...

In October, 2011, Quest credit cards show more than $4,300 in travel expenses and more than $500 at Walmart for three Kindles, food items and gift cards.

On Connie Jordan's card in November 2011, he found more than $1200 spent on meals, postage, travel, gift cards, a frame, food and tools.

And Jordan spent $5600 more of your tax dollars. At Barnes and Noble she bought eight Nooks and Nook accessories.

At Best Buy: DVDs, a Nintendo DSi and two Turtle Beach Call of Duty video game headsets.

At Walmart: a blu-ray player, movies, clothes, board games, music, Wii games and a lava lamp...

The auditor also found tens of thousands in irregular payments to Jordan and several other school administrators: checks that circumvented the normal payroll process and the board.

The auditor says those checks may indicate that Jordan forced a few employees to kickback money to her from their paychecks...

Reacting to the auditor's findings, the Quest board took emergency action Monday to secure and protect the school.

They took away Principal Jordan's ability to hire and fire, and froze all of her access to school money...

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“You Paid for It: Quest Academy.”KTNV Las Vegas (NV), 11/19/2012 

Teachers quitting, parents enraged and demanding answers, and students caught in the middle. That's what's going on at a local school under investigation by the state. And it's raising issues of abuse of authority and waste of your tax dollars...

Teachers are quitting, citing a hostile work environment. Five have left in just the last month...

It all stems from allegations against Quest Academy Principal Connie Jordan and most of the school's governing board.

Multiple school employees and one board member have filed formal complaints with the State Public Charter School Authority.

In a Nov. 2 letter to the Quest board, the authority says the issues raised in those multiple complaints suggest "among other transgressions, fiscal malfeasance on the part of the school's administrator and a lack of governing body oversight of the school."...

Lucretia Glidewell was contracted as Quest's financial manager. She told the state in her complaint that she was forced to kickback $1,000 a month out of her paycheck to the principal in order to keep her contract.

She also told the state she was "asked to help cover up illegal practices" regarding three $5,000 checks, which she calls an unapproved "bonus" the principal gave to herself...

[Principal] Connie Jordan told the crowd to wait for the state's findings...

She's also facing allegations that she "falsified documents" to the state -- altering her contract to explain the checks as a payout of unused personal time off...

... One week after [assistant principal ] made allegations of wrongdoing to the board, she was placed on paid administrative leave...

While the Charter School Authority conducts its investigation, the Quest governing board will be spending more tax dollars to hire outside companies to audit and investigate their school...

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A website devoted to this situation @ http://questacademylvexposed.blogspot.com/

Letter (11/2/2012) to Quest Academy Governing Body President from State Public Charter School Authority:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/113454427/state-letter-to-QUEST-ACADEMY

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Stars Middle School

“Former Stars Middle School employee accused of molesting a minor.” WTXL ABC 27 (FL), 11/28/2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Tallahassee police say that a former employee of a local middle school, accused of molesting a minor, may have had inappropriate contact with other children.

The woman, Rosa Lee Stephens, is listed as an employee of Stars Middle School in a police report. However, the assistant principal of the school, Mr. Ahmet Temel, says that Stephens hasn't worked there since October 1... [please see below]

Stephens is charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Minor. She is in the Leon County Jail with a $25,000 bond. Police are concerned that she may have had inappropriate contact with other children...

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The charter school administrator denies Stephens was an employee at the time of her arrest, but the arrest document clearly shows her employer as "Stars Middle School”  https://twitter.com/CASILIPS/status/274423264493854721/photo/1

More about Florida Gulen charter schools HERE.

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Online schools (extreme spending on marketing)

“Online schools spend millions to attract students.” USA Today, 11/28/2012 

Virtual, for-profit K-12 schools have spent millions in taxpayer dollars on advertising, an analysis shows...

An analysis by USA TODAY finds that online charter schools have spent millions in taxpayer dollars on advertising over the past five years, a trend that shows few signs of abating...

The USA TODAY analysis finds that 10 of the largest for-profit operators have spent an estimated $94.4 million on ads since 2007. The largest, Virginia-based K12 Inc., has spent about $21.5 million in just the first eight months of 2012...

A look at where K12 is placing the ads suggests that the company is also working to appeal to kids: Among the hundreds of outlets tapped this year, K12 has spent an estimated $631,600 to advertise on Nickelodeon, $601,600 on The Cartoon Network and $671,400 on MeetMe.com, a social networking site popular with teens. It also dropped $3,000 on VampireFreaks.com, which calls itself "the Web's largest community for dark alternative culture."

Kwitowski declined to say what percentage of K12's per-pupil expenses goes to advertising, but Kevin Welner, a University of Colorado professor who tracks virtual schools, estimated that K12 is on pace this year to spend about $340 per student on advertising, or about 5.2% of its per-pupil public expenditures...

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Ricardo Flores Magon Academy

“Marcos Martinez, head of Ricardo Flores Magon Academy, resigns his post.” Denver Westword (CO), 3/8/2012

Marcos Martinez, the controversial founder of the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy and subject of our cover story "A Hard Line," has resigned. So, too, have two other employees whom the school's board of trustees asked to take a paid leave while they investigated complaints against them. The school is now searching for a new leader.

Meanwhile, it seems that Martinez is making moves in Wyoming.

Liberty's Torch, a monthly newspaper in Cheyenne, recently ran a story about Martinez's efforts to start a branch of the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy there.

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“Charter school chief rules with iron fist, say teachers.” Denver Westword (CO), 11/29/2011... 

Board minutes show that fifteen staff members — a good portion of whom were fired by [Marcos Martinez, the head of Ricardo Flores Magón Academy charter school in Westminster] for "not being a good fit" — left in the first four years of the school's existence.

Some of them say Martinez favored male staff members and those who were Hispanic. They say he also created an uncomfortable working environment.

Mitchell is suing Martinez and the school in U.S. District Court. She believes Martinez discriminated against her because she has a disability — asthma — that exacerbated her illness. Further, she believes Martinez treated her differently than other employees because although she herself is Latina, she's married to a white man.

Another former teacher filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she'd been discriminated against because she was a woman, especially during and after her pregnancy. She settled with the school.

RFMA's problems don't end there, however. The school, which moved to a new location this fall, has also been criticized by state education officials for its high teacher turnover rate and its use of Che Guevara as a role model for young children. It has been slapped on the wrist by the county health department for not having hot water or a food-service license at its old facility and is embroiled in a lawsuit with its previous landlord...

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Madrone Trail Charter School

“Madrone Trail parents seek intervention.” Mail Tribune (OR), 11/20/2012

A parent of two Madrone Trail Charter School students urged the Medford School Board Monday to intervene with the operations of the charter school board.

Lorraine McDonald said she represented a number of parents who have come together to share their worries about the charter school board...

McDonald said she was one of the founding parents of the 200-student, Waldorf-inspired charter school, and since its opening, she has grown concerned over the board's ability to manage the school's future...

Members of the Medford School Board said that in order for the charter to be renewed next year, a lot of progress would have to be made very quickly...

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“9 Investigates lawmakers' connections with charter schools.”

“9 Investigates lawmakers' connections with charter schools.” WFTV (FL), 11/14/2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — Over the past five years, the number of charter schools in Central Florida has climbed. These "nontraditional" public schools receive taxpayer money -- and 9 Investigates' George Spencer found some of the same lawmakers who are writing the rules for charter schools are also benefiting from them.

Dayspring Academy Charter School in Port Richie is thriving, as evidenced by the "Another 'A' Rating" banner on its website. Last March, its business administrator, John Legg, made a special request to change admission rules...

The school board did deny the request. But that didn't matter in the end as Legg, was also a powerful state representative, and the legislature soon changed laws to allow what Legg proposed.

"We, as taxpayers, need to be suspect about the motivation for pouring so many resources into charter schools," said Orange Countypublic school parent Linda Kobert...

9 Investigates asked Florida Sen. David Simmons about the concerns, and he said conflict of interest changes are already in the works...

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Valley Academy Charter School

“Hurricane teacher arrested on sex charges.” St. George Daily Spectrum (UT), 10/30/2012

ST. GEORGE — A former violin teacher at Valley Academy Charter School in Hurricane was arrested Tuesday on four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, following allegations made against him by four students at the school.

Lynn R. Lundstrom, 62, of Ivins, was arrested following an investigation by the Hurricane Police Department. Four students reported being touched inappropriately by Lundstrom during class...

Lundstrom was listed as a strings instructor at Valley Academy Charter School on the school’s website prior to the investigation, but that information has since been removed...

According to the probable cause statement, when Lundstrom was interviewed by Hurricane detectives regarding the allegations, Lundstrom allegedly admitted that he had, at least on one occasion, inappropriately touched a child at the school...

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