OAKLAND -- American Indian Public Charter School II has the highest test scores in the city and the second highest of any public middle school in the state. But its exceptional story might come to an abrupt end this year.
On Wednesday, the Oakland Unified Board of Education will vote on a recommendation to close the school, which has about 300 students in grades 5 to 8.
Staff members with the Oakland school district's charter schools office cited a host of reasons for the recommendation to reject the school's charter school renewal application. At the forefront is an ongoing state investigation into allegations of fraud and other illegal activity at American Indian Model Schools, the organization that manages this charter school and two others. School district staff say investigators with the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team are reviewing more than $3 million in questionable transactions by the organization during a recent three-year period.
Late last year, a former employee's claims of financial misappropriation and cover-up prompted the district and