The state is shutting down a long-running charter school that’s been accused of misspending taxpayer dollars.
The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board unanimously voted on Monday to not renew Children’s Village Academy in Kinston when its charter expires at the end of June. The school has faced multiple state investigations over the past school year and had agreed to repay $152,050 in federal grant money it was accused of misspending.
“They’re just not running the place in a way that would warrant this type of trust with public funds,” Eric Sanchez, a Review Board member said Monday. “I just want to go on record as saying that. It’s sad to always vote when a school gets closed.”
Children’s Village can appeal the non-renewal decision to the State Board of Education. Non-renewal usually means closure, but charter schools can try to stay open by converting to a private school.
“Yes I admit there’s room for improvement in internal controls, enrollment and academics,” Wilma Troublefield, chair of Children’s Village board of directors, told the Review Board on Monday. “But we are still in compliance, and we ask that you not only renew the school charter but do grant us the opportunity to do what you have mandated us to do.
“Prayerfully we embark on another year, we will see that all these mandates are completed.”
In April, the State Board upheld the Review Board’s decision to not renew Ridgeview Charter School in Gaston County, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
School wants more time to repay money
Children’s Village is one of North Carolina’s oldest charter schools. It opened in 1997. It has 147 students this school year.
The state Department of Public Instruction received several allegations questioning how the school was handling a loan from one of its leaders and how it was spending federal funds for an after-school tutoring program.
DPI ordered the school to repay $162,597 in tutoring program funds. Children’s Village appealed DPI’s order before reaching an agreement to repay $152,050.
DPI is expecting the money to be repaid by Wednesday. But the school wants to use an installment plan that would have them provide a $50,000 down payment this week with the final payment in November.
James Harper, the school’s treasurer, told the Review Board he isn’t sure they can pay all $152,050 this week.
Financial policies questioned
Children’s Village also made changes such as adopting a new internal financial controls policy and resolving issues with its outstanding loan balance. DPI had questioned how board member Peggy Carr had gotten $140,000 in interest payments from a $188,000 loan she gave the school in 2008.
Carr told the Review Board she and the church her late mother led have donated more money to the school over the years than it has collected back in interest payments. Her mother founded the Eastern North Carolina charter school.
Carr said she is no longer a voting member of the board. She is commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education.
Despite the changes, Susan Brigman, section chief of DPI’s specialty programs, told the Review Board “we do have significant concerns about their ability to manage the financials.”
‘Inaccurate or fraudulent’ data
More recently, DPI said its investigations found Children’s Village inflated the number of students attending the tutoring program and didn’t comply with federal regulations on reporting the employment status of some employees.
The school changed the status of 13 employees to independent contractors before changing them back. DPI says the school needs to address the tax issues that the change caused, as well as remove two independent contractors from the state Health Plan.
Brigman told The Review Board that the school reported “inaccurate or fraudulent” data on the number of students attending the after-school program. She cited the much lower number of students seen when DPI did unannounced visits in April. Funding for the program is tied to enrollment.
“The students are just not there,” Brigman said.
Jessica Jones, the school’s principal, said that after-school attendance drops over the school year.
The state Office of Charter Schools initially was going to recommend Children’s Village get a three-year renewal. But after the DPI audits, the Office of Charter Schools cited “material violations” in the charter and “failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management” for recommending non-renewal.
“It just doesn’t seem that the school has the right infrastructure to get better,” said Sanchez, the Review Board member. “It doesn’t seem like they’re owning their mistakes.”