Vineland Public Charter School

“N.J. says Winslow educator hid trail on various jobs.” Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 9/9/2011

A top Winslow School District official who moonlights at three South Jersey charter schools misled state investigators assigned to look into her nearly $300,000 annual income, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

Ann F. Garcia came under investigation early this year after state officials noted that she had worked the equivalent of almost three full-time jobs simultaneously since 2009, an "unusually high" number, authorities said in a report by the department's Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance filed last month.

The case is under review by the state Attorney General's Office Criminal Justice Division, a spokesman said. The State Board of Examiners, which reviews public education credentials, is set to conduct a hearing Tuesday...

In addition to working as business administrator in the Winslow district, a full-time position, Garcia was executive director of the Vineland school and business administrator of the ECO Charter School in Camden and the Charter-Tech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.

Garcia continues to hold those positions. According to published reports, she and her husband, Esteban, cofounded the Vineland charter school. Esteban Garcia serves on the school's board...

Ann Garcia's combined income last year exceeded the base salary of the highest-paid public school official in New Jersey, the Newark School District superintendent, who was paid $280,000 during the last school year, according to state records...

"There is nothing in the statute or code that speaks to allowing or disallowing multiple employment positions," an Education Department spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

But holding multiple jobs with overlapping responsibilities "could involve criminality," the spokeswoman said.

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REAL Prep Charter Academy

“How REAL Prep charter school spent $450,000 before problems weredetected.” The Oregonian (OR), 9/14/2011

The founder of a proposed Portland charter school was able to spend $450,000 in federal funds with little to show for it by choosing the least-regulated route to creating such a school and papering over problems when overseers checked in.

Erica Jayasuriya, a Portland mom with visions of opening a recording arts-based high school that would transform education for disengaged teens, presided as the team she assembled spent the money on planning, promotion and curriculum design -- without ever mustering enough curriculum, materials, students or equipment to open a school.

No one at Portland Public Schools, which approved Jayasuriya's proposal to open REAL Prep Charter Academy, or at the Oregon Department of Education, which awarded the nonprofit she created two $225,000 grants, took steps to stop her and her team until late August.

By then, 17 months after the money began flowing, the school was weeks from its scheduled opening and the money spent. Jayasuriya's pay took at least $68,000 of it.

State and school district officials say they understand why the public questions their failure to notice problems earlier. But they say failings were hidden from them, in part by misleading information from REAL Prep leaders and in part because Congress specified that charter school starters be allowed control over their grant spending.

"There was nothing that was said and nothing in what they submitted to us that brought our attention that they were not progressing toward opening a high quality charter school," said Susan Inman, the state's director of learning opportunity options.

Three days before school was to start Sept. 12, district officials shut REAL Prep, forcing students to scramble. More than 120 students filled out paperwork showing they wanted to attend, including 48 who officially enrolled.

Now, eight days into the district's school year, only half of the 120 students are in school. Thirty-seven are trying to get into a school that fits them and has room, while the status of 28 others is unsure because officials haven't been able to reach them...

Jayasuriya signed a detailed agreement, including to preserve financial records and get state approval if spending changed from the school budget. Unknown to state regulators, however, she was at odds with most of her own board over spending.

Eric Ensley, president of the board from its founding in May 2009 until he resigned in June 2010, said he tangled with Jayasuriya over her desire to immediately begin paying people -- including herself -- rather than first get a firm financial plan and seasoned administrator in place.

"There were manipulative tactics to try to get things approved and paid for that I didn't think should be paid for," he said. "I can't tell you how heated the debate got in the boardroom. ... To pay Joe Schmo to advocate for the school just because he knows this deejay is no way to run a school."

Ensley insisted, for example, that for Jayasuriya to become a paid employee of the school, she must step down from the board and apply for the job. In the end, Ensley and three other board members resigned, leaving Jayasuriya and two others on the board. Jayasuriya then helped hire herself and the board treasurer as paid contract employees of the school...

On Sept. 1, the problems became starkly clear. In a meeting at school district headquarters, four top school officials began arguing. The treasurer said she was ill-equipped and would resign that night. The co-director resigned during the meeting. A third leader walked out in disgust after learning there was no money left for furniture and equipment. And the list of seemingly qualified board members the district had been given was a fiction...

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California College, Career and Technical Education Center

“School shutdown leaves students, teachers scrambling.” News10/KXTV (CA), 9/2/2011

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - The California College, Career and Technical Education Center has shutdown in West Sacramento leaving teachers and students and staff scrambling to find somewhere else to go.

Some parents apparently found out about the charter school's unexpected closure when they arrived for an orientation meeting Thursday and found the school's doors locked...

When CCCTec opened last fall, every student was provided with an IPad.

Owner and school superintendent Paul Preston said the school was designed for students who had struggled at other schools. They would be able to get enough credits to graduate, as well as, learn vocational skills, such as, auto repair, woodworking and graphic design.

Preston said the school had space for 200 students. But teacher Kathryn Schroeder-Kelly said when school ended last spring only about 66 students were enrolled...

"My paycheck bounced," Schroeder-Kelly said. "That's when I thought, well, this is weird. But I got a cashier's check and everything was fine."...

A letter sent from the State Board of Education to the school last June said, "CCCTec appears to have failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles, or engaged in fiscal mismanagement."

The letter said the school had not paid teachers, several vendors and had missed payments to the California State Teachers Retirement System...

The school's Facebook page talked about a $750,000 grant it had received. The California Department of Education is demanding that $57,000 be returned...

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Academy of Arts & Minds

“Manuel Alonso-Poch Won't Fix Conflicts of Interest at His Charter School, New Audit Finds.” Miami NewTimes (FL), 12/27/2012

In June, a Miami-Dade School Board audit skewered a Coconut Grove charter school for an incestuous relationship with its founder and landlord, powerful attorney Manuel Alonso-Poch. It found Alonso-Poch was charging the Academy of Arts & Minds a suspiciously high rate for rent and had rigged its board to award contracts to his businesses.

Seven months later, Alonso-Poch is apparently still at it. A new report from the board's auditor, Jose Montes de Oca, offers evidence that Miami-Dade County Public Schools is all but powerless to address sketchy charter schools in the system...

In June, the school board found "conflicts of interest" at the school, including a "subservient" board whose chairwoman was Alonso-Poch's cousin and which also included his business partners. With the board's blessing, one of Alonso-Poch's companies won a $140,000-per-year food service contract; he also charged $860,000 annually in rent, a sum the auditor found "irregular."

The board warned the school could lose its nonprofit status without reforms.

Those changes haven't come yet, at least according to Montes de Oca... 

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“Audit Ordered For Coconut Grove Charter School.” CBS4 (FL), 10/19/2011

COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) – The Miami-Dade School Board ordered a forensic audit to be conducted on the Arts and Minds Academy charter school in Coconut Grove, where questions have been raised about school funding. A group of angry parents demanded the district to get involved.

The decision, reached Wednesday afternoon, will include a search for misappropriated funds, missing equipment, and possible malfeasance in following state rules set forth for publicly funded charter schools.

The district had already started an investigation into complaints students were charged illegal fees for required classes. Some parents also claim the school lacks teachers and books, and a failure of the school to conduct required background checks on employees.

“In the last six months, we have had two very experienced, well-liked principals that have left the school and cited issues with management.” said Sherri Myers, President of the Parent Teacher Students Association (PTSA) at the school.

At the center of the controversy is Manuel Alonso-Poch.

Alonso-Poch is the schools founder, owns the management company that runs the school, owns the food service company that provides breakfast and lunches to the students, and owns the building, collecting $77,000 a month in rent from taxpayers...

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“The Lima connection: How Coconut Grove charter school cuts red tape.” The Miami Herald, 10/12/2011

Whatever else in the way of criticism gets heaped on local school boards — God knows they catch hell — board members do tend to live in the general vicinity of the school district.

Which is to say, they don’t live in Peru...

Herald reporters Kathleen McGrory and Scott Hiaasen discovered that Jorge Guerra-Castro, nominally a member of the board overseeing the Academy of Arts & Minds, has lived in Lima (Peru, not Ohio) for the last six years.

Not that Guerra-Castro has knowingly ignored his responsibilities. Called by The Herald, he seemed taken aback when told that the charter school listed him as an “at large” member of the A&M board. Emphasis on “at large.”

“Very bizarre,” Guerra-Castro told The Herald. “I have no idea what’s going on.”...

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“Grove charter school board meeting video gives insider peek insidegovernance and debate of Florida Sunshine laws.” Watchdog Report (FL), 08/07/2011

A parent of a local charter school in Coconut Grove started in 2004 and run by the buildings owner Manny Alonso Poch filmed a governance board meeting and the discussion allows the public to get an idea of what and how some of the 80 plus such schools are governed in Miami-Dade in the public  sunshine. The Arts and Minds Academy Charter School has been a frequent topic of the Watchdog Report since the school first went through and its creation was approved by the nation’s fourth largest public district because of this “related transaction” as it is called when a facilities owner also runs the school. In this case, the rent for the building jumped back in 2006 from $29,000 to $69,000 and currently now when maintenance is included is well over $80,000 per month. The school while academically doing well has gone through four school directors and has been the object of stories in The Miami Herald and Miami New Times along with other blogs. Here is what was sent to me last week by the person that took the video. >>> “I have uploaded the videos of the last 2 A&M Governing Board Meetings. The first meeting on 7/14 was adjourned when they realized I was videotaping. I showed them the law, explained, etc and they did not feel comfortable going forward. On the meeting on the 28th you will find a lot of interesting footage. If you do not have much time, at least view the Q and A portion. You will get a kick out of it. It is funny as they do not even know who is on their Governing Board and it is only a six member Board. All of the videos are ready. You can click on the following link and then look at all of the videos that were uploaded. There are a total of 8 (2 for the 7/14 meeting and 6 for the 7/28 meeting): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJjpx858p7Q You can also go to youtube and search aandmgbvideos and they will all come up. Videos 5 of 6 and 6 of 6 for the 7/28 meeting is the question and answer portion.”

>>> PAST WDR: MAY, 2011: Grove Arts & Mind Academy parents, in six page blistering letter to school district, light up school’s governance and criticize building owner and school founder Alonso-Poch

Parents of students at the Arts & Minds Academy located on Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove fired off a blistering highly critical letter of complaint to the Miami-Dade Public Schools administration concerning how the charter school is being run and governed that seems to only benefit financially the building’s owner and school founder Manny Alonso-Poch. The May 2 six-page letter signed by the A&M PTSA Executive Board President Carlos Deupi and other senior board members and parents to Tiffanie Pauline, the Administrative Director of charter schools in the nation’s fourth largest school district. The letter details a long list of issues, including the fact that he owns the building the school is housed, and uses it for other activities including having his law office at the site. The school created in 2004 was flagged by the Watchdog Report back then because of the building ownership issue that is known as a “related transaction.” The original monthly rent paid by the school district was $29,000 but when it expanded in 2006, that same rent jumped to around $69,000 a month, and caught the eye of the district’s inspector general and the school board’s audit committee. Poch, an attorney, at a past school board audit committee meeting explained to audit board members why the new rent was fair, but his explanation did not fly and had audit board Chair Frederick “Buck” Thornburgh, an attorney noting there “was a lot of fairy dust in the room,” after the explanation he thought...

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“Coconut Grove charter school owner accused of bilking taxpayers.” Miami New Times (FL), 06/09/2011

Manuel Alonso-Poch isn't just one of Miami's best-connected lawyers and a major donor to bigwigs such as Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado and his daughter, school board member Raquel Regalado — he's also been trumpeted lately as the business-savvy savior of the long-threatened Miami Marine Stadium.

So what the heck is going on over at the Academy of Arts & Minds, the Coconut Grove charter school he cofounded in 2003?

The academy's Parent Teacher Student Association sent a searing letter last month to Dade officials alleging fraud and malfeasance, including a governing board made up of relatives and lackeys that pays Alonso-Poch inflated rent.

Alonso-Poch says the complaints are hooey: "For a group of misinformed, ignorant parents who don't trust anything to attack my hard work is very offensive."

He started the school from scratch eight years ago with his partner, Ana Renteria, and has built it into an "A" school focused on creative arts. Lately he has earned headlines with a plan to build a marine exhibition center next to the languishing, graffiti-tagged stadium on Virginia Key.

But some parents say they've uncovered troubling practices at the academy, including

• a "rubber-stamp" governing board that includes Alonso-Poch's cousin and numerous business associates;

• a lease that pays Alonso-Poch $86,000 a month for a building worth only $3.4 million;

• a lucrative food services contract awarded to his own company;

• tax returns that fudge the school's cash flow.

Alonso-Poch denies the charges and provided the school's financial statements. He says his governing board is independent (but admits his cousin holds one seat) and neither he nor Renteria makes money from the school.

The rent is fair, he says, and the food services contract went through a standard bidding process. "We happened to make the best offer," he says...

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Gentilly Terrace Charter School

“New Orleans teenager arrested after gun goes off in backpack.” The Times-Picayune (LA), 9/12/2011

There's a reason some schools in New Orleans require see-through or mesh backpacks, and this is it: At about 9 a.m. on Monday, a handgun that a 13-year-old at Gentilly Terrace Elementary School had stashed in his bag went off accidentally on school grounds.

No one was hurt. But police arrested the teenager and planned on booking him with weapons possession and illegal discharge of a firearm, said officer Shereese Harper, a police spokeswoman. The school is located at 4720 Painters St.

There's no evidence the case represents any new trend. Guns have long been a scourge among male teenagers in New Orleans. Yet it's at least the second gun-related incident on a city campus since the new school year opened just a few weeks ago. Police were called to Reed Elementary [a charter school operated by ReNEW] in eastern New Orleans last month after an eighth-grader brought a pistol to school.

Neither of the students appeared to have plans to shoot anyone. At Reed, the teenager turned over the gun voluntarily when a behavioral specialist sensed that something was wrong, and school officials said the weapon didn't appear to be functional.

The incident Monday at Gentilly Terrace seemed right out of a cautionary tale about the child who finds his dad's gun.

Vera Triplett, the chief operations officer for the Capital One-New Beginnings Charter School Network, which runs Gentilly Terrace, said the student was showing the pistol off to classmates in a corner of the school yard when it somehow went off.

"He didn't bring it to school to harm anyone," Triplett said.

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Sarah T. Reed Elementary charter school

“Eighth grader arrested with gun on Reed Elementary School campus.” WWLTV (LA), 8/22/2011

NEW ORLEANS – An eighth-grade student at Reed Elementary School in New Orleans East was arrested Monday afternoon after a teacher discovered an unloaded gun in his bag, school officials said.

Bill Murphy, the chief academic officer at Reed, confirmed to Eyewitness News that the gun was discovered shortly after 1 p.m., when a teacher noticed the student, whom he would not identify, was acting out of character.

The teacher noticed other students seemed to sense some sort of trouble, Murphy said, which led the teacher to approach the student, and ask him to search his bookbag. The teacher noticed the student was holding the bag close to his body, Murphy said.

The teacher asked if the student would allow the bag to be searched, to which the student agreed, Murphy said. When the bag was opened, the teacher found the unloaded gun inside. He was asked if it was his, and he said it was, according to school officials.

The student was taken to meet with school administrators and his parents and police were notified, Murphy said.

Murphy said the incident was handled exactly the way school policy dictates, and “90 percent of the students” probably had no idea what had happened. Classes resumed as normal.

Reed Elementary is a charter school operated by the Renew Charter Management Organization.

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Aspire Charter Academy

“Charter school for kids with behavioral problems expelled student on first day.” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 9/2/2011

Kerlin Fedee thought she had found the perfect fit for her daughter — a school dedicated to the needs of young children with behavioral problems.

"They said they would be able to help her and would love to have her," Fedee said.

But Fedee was disillusioned quickly. Aspire Charter Academy in Orlando, which opened this fall, kicked out 6-year-old Natalie Querette on the first day.

Natalie, a first grader, sometimes bites, kicks and spits, especially in a new situation. She has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Her mother said the principal told her at the end of the first day that the school couldn't help Natalie because she screamed, bit and hit the teacher.

Aspire is run by Pam Schenkel, who spent 18 years as a behavioral support administrator in Orange County schools.

A week before the school year began, Schenkel said Aspire would fill an unmet need within the county.

The school, for kindergarten through grade 2, would serve many children who had spent months out of school for behavioral reasons, Schenkel said.

"If the school isn't going to educate them, they feel isolated," she said of the families.

District policy calls for schools, including charters, to call together a team of adults to discuss a disabled student's placement when problems arise. This is part of the federally required Individualized Education Program for students with disabilities.

But Schenkel said the charter has its own rules. "We're just following our handbook," she said.

Fedee has been invited to present her case to the school's Board of Directors at its meeting Wednesday night.

She filed a complaint with Orange County Public Schools, although there is little the district can require a charter school to do...

After being kicked out of Aspire, Natalie spent the rest of the first week out of school. Fedee enrolled her at Waterbridge, her neighborhood school, the following Monday.

After one day there, staff began evaluating whether to send her to another elementary, Endeavor, which takes students with mental disabilities from seven southwest Orange County elementary schools. Meanwhile, the school has required her mother to pick up Natalie by 11:00 a.m.

"Apparently Aspire Charter Academy does not practice what they preach," Fedee said...

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