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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Jefferson Academy

JEFFERSON CHARTER SCHOOL MUST MEET CONDITIONS TO STAY OPEN; March 30, 2001; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

A Jefferson County charter school must clean up its books, replace most of its governing board and notify parents of students' rights if it wants to remain open.

Those are among the conditions imposed on Jefferson Academy, a K-12 charter school in Broomfield serving 650 students, by the Jefferson County school board late Wednesday after a nearly five-hour hearing…

… Arrington and Mund, who served on the board during the past two years, are among four of seven Academy board members who would have to be replaced under the conditions imposed.

Reactions of Academy parents and staff to the school board's decision varied widely, Reynolds said. Some want to accept the conditions while others want ``to fight it to the death,'' he said.

The Academy could appeal the Jeffco board's decision to the state Board of Education.

Jeffco's board took its action after district officials and an independent auditor found evidence of sloppy accounting practices, conflict of interests by board members, improper disciplining of students and the espousing of Christian views by the school.

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21st Century Charter School

PARENTS BOYCOTT CHARTER SCHOOL; May 10, 2006; Post-Tribune (Gary, IN)

A parental uprising at 21st Century charter school led to a class boycott and an overflow of parents at a School Board meeting Tuesday. The fledgling charter school that lured 220 students from Gary public schools is nearing the close of its debut year with a $100,000 deficit, a sudden change in principals, and criticism from parents over topics ranging from school resources to lack of learning…

Michelle Williams said her son is not learning skills required for his grade. Instead of doing seventh-grade algebra, he's doing basic addition and subtraction, she said, causing her to supplement his studies at home.

Williams also said the school had not kept its promise of providing one computer for every two children. Chief Executive Officer Kevin Teasley of the school's management company GEO said that was untrue.

Williams, whose son boycotted Tuesday, said she might decide to withdraw him altogether.

One parent, who said her child was injured at school, complained that the school promised a nurse, counselor, and social worker but had provided none.

Teasley said the school is looking to hire a nurse.

GEO also was criticized for the decision to make former teacher and director of operations Tamika Chambers the principal after Leonard Brown resigned abruptly last week.

While some parents whisper he was forced out, Teasley and other staffers said he resigned at an administrative retreat without coercion.

Parents criticized Chambers for failing a majority of students in her classes for things like failing to bring in assignments.

Chambers has a master's degree in business administration, a teaching certificate, is working on her doctorate, but lacks an administrative license…

Liz Rendell, parent outreach coordinator, said parents have been concerned about teacher behavior: one child was disciplined by being hit with four drumsticks, while another student, she alleged, was "touched improperly."

"I've had my children out since Thursday," Rendell said, who also expressed concerns about a teacher viewing Internet pornography at school.

Teasley said two teachers were suspended for a week for the drumstick and touching incidents…

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TEACHER'S AIDE CHARGED IN CHOKING INCIDENT; May 27, 2006; Post-Tribune (Gary, IN)

A teacher's aide was charged this week with using a garbage bag to choke a student is on unpaid administrative leave, school officials said Friday. Clarence B. English Jr., 25, was charged with neglect of dependent in connection with the Feb. 15 incident at 21st Century Charter School.

"Mr. English has been suspended until further notice without pay and will not be allowed to return to the school building pending the outcome of his case," the school's general counsel Dana Johnson, said Friday.

An arrest warrant has been issued for English, who told Detective Cpl. Nelson Otano he would turn himself in after charges were filed…

English was in a social studies class when he and a 12-year-old student exchanged words. The boy and two classmates told police English used a plastic garbage bag to choke the victim until his eyes turned red and he was unable to breathe, court records state.

After the incident, "we had a visit with the mother and apologized. The mother had accepted the apology and so did the student," Kevin Teasley, CEO for the school's management company said Friday…

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LOCAL CHARTER SCHOOLS CITED BY INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS; March 31, 2011; The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN) 

The Indiana State Board of Accounts has released reports on three local charter schools, citing examples of poor record-keeping and money management.

Reports were released in mid-March on the 21st Century Charter School of Gary, Charter School of the Dunes in Gary and the East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy. All three reports covered the period of July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010.

The educational management company for Charter School of the Dunes and the East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy is Chicago-based American Quality Schools. The management company for 21st Century Charter is Indianapolis-based GEO Foundations.

Paul Joyce, deputy state examiner, characterized the problems in all three reports as an overall lack of internal control procedures established by the charter school boards and the management company for the schools. He said they are either not following the controls in place or don't have controls to follow…

With the expansion of charter schools across the state, Joyce said the Indiana State Board of Accounts workload has increased dramatically. He said if the Indiana Legislature approves the current language for charter schools, board of accounts officials hope to get the authority to establish internal control policies and procedures for charter schools to meet minimum standards…

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Thea Bowman Preparatory Academy

DISTRICT CHARTER SCHOOL TO SHUT DOWN AT END OF SCHOOL YEAR, CITING LOW ENROLLMENT AND FINANCES; March 23, 2010; Washington Post (D.C.) 

WASHINGTON — A Washington public charter school says it is shutting down at the end of the school year.

Thea Bowman Preparatory Academy, which serves 130 students in grades 5-8, says low enrollment and financial troubles forced its decision. Craig Powell, the chairman of the academy’s board of trustees, says the school will work closely with parents to find placement options for next year…

The academy, founded in 2008, was one of the District’s first public charter schools.

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Nia Community Public Charter School

“DC Charter School Head Accused of Embezzling Funds.” AP/NBC4 Washington (DC), 1/29/2013

A co-founder and former executive director of the Nia Community Public Charter School in Washington has been charged with embezzling $29,000 from the school.

The Washington Examiner reports that Monique Murdock wrote five checks to her foster child ranging from $4,000 and $8,000, using school funds in 2008. Court records show the checks were then deposited in a savings account Murdock created for the child. Then all but $100 was transferred to other accounts belonging to Murdock.

Nia Community Public Charter School was located in Ward 7 but closed in 2011 after the D.C. Public Charter School Board revoked its charter.

The charter school board initially placed the school on probation for possible financial mismanagement. A spokeswoman says its charter was revoked as a result of poor academic performance.

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”School board votes to pursue closure of two D.C. charters.” The Examiner (Washington, DC), 3/30/2011

The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not following the academic programs they proposed, the board said…

Board members said Nia's charter is on the chopping block because it failed to design and implement the educational program it described in its application, and failed to meet student achievement goals.

Nia also has not complied with federal requirements for educating special-education students, and did not submit an annual report in compliance with the School Reform Act…

Both Nia and Ideal have 15 days to request a public hearing before the board's final vote. A charter going through the process has never remained open, spokeswoman Audrey Williams told The Washington Examiner.

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Ideal Academy

SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO PURSUE CLOSURE OF TWO D.C. CHARTERS; March 30, 2011; The Examiner (Washington, DC) 

The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not following the academic programs they proposed, the board said…

Ideal also failed to design and implement its proposed educational program, and test scores have been low. When a board member asked if the scores were improving, staff answered that they'd dropped from low to lower.

Board members also pointed out that Ideal hasn't appropriately served its special education and English language-learner populations and has a high level of debt. Ideal will lose its high school campus on June 30, which the board said threatened its viability.

Both Nia and Ideal have 15 days to request a public hearing before the board's final vote. A charter going through the process has never remained open, spokeswoman Audrey Williams told The Washington Examiner…

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Equality Charter School

CHARTER SCHOOL, STRUGGLING, HIRED LEADERS' KIN; Friday, Oct 15, 2010; City Limits (New York City, NY) 

…In [Equality Charter School’s] charter application to the city and the state, the school's co-founders Myers (who serves as principal), Margaret Hoey and Caitlin Franco cited long expertise as educators, data-managers and disciplinarians in institutions, schools and other settings that serve troubled youth.

Equality Charter's first year was marked by near-constant change in staffing patterns and enrollment: Co-founder Hoey left midyear to spearhead efforts to establish yet another New York City charter school, the Swedish-styled Kunskapsskolan school, which aims to open in 2011. Board members and two board chairmen were replaced, numerous teachers were fired and replaced or invited not to return, and nearly two dozen students left the school, many well before the end of the school year, according to Myers.

The year was also marked, parents and students say, by student rough-housing that often got out of control. On the Department of Education Learning Environment Survey conducted during the school's first year, parents, teachers and nearly all of the school's students identified safety as a real concern. Half of the teachers and a third of parents expressed fears about bullying, safety and school discipline. Bullying and threats were an issue for 84 percent of students, who also reported that teachers yell at students (81 percent) and that student get into physical fights (93 percent)…

Some parents of students with special needs say the school did not deliver mandated services to their children. (DOE statistics show that charters citywide generally enroll fewer special-education students than traditional public schools, a gap the state's new charter law aims to address.)

One parent, Lori Gill, enrolled her two sons at Equality Charter school in August 2009, after the lottery was drawn and the school’s wait list was created; the boys got priority because one son had special needs.

But both boys moved to a traditional public school this year, Gill says, largely because her son Darren received many fewer services than the school first promised and that he was legally mandated to receive…

One dean, Devon Myers, is married to the principal. The other, Mark Hines, is engaged to Assistant Principal Franco; his daughter was, briefly, a student at Equity Charter School, until she enrolled at Truman High School this September…

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Additional information is at Equality Charter School: A Failing, Corrupt, Mismanaged Charter School @ http://www.equalitycharterschool.com/

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