Utah charter schools
UTAH CHARTER SCHOOLS IN NEED OF GREATER OVERSIGHT, AUDIT SAYS, October 22, 2010, Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
The State Charter School Board needs to polish its practices to more effectively regulate Utah’s growing number of charter schools, according to a legislative audit released Thursday.
The number of charter schools in Utah has surged from 7 in 2001 to 76 this year with no increase in the charter board’s support staff at the Utah State Office of Education. In fact, the six-member staff has been cut to five.
The report highlights the board’s handling last year of financial struggles at Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Holladay. The board voted to revoke Beehive’s charter but later reversed that decision because of its own “ambiguous standards” for charter finances, the audit states.