Houston charter school misspent $5.3 million in federal funds, state report finds
The Varnett Public School in Houston misspent $5.3 million in federal funds on everything from first-class airline tickets to spa services, according to a new investigative report from the Texas Education Agency.
What sanctions the school will face, if any, is not yet known.
The report found rampant conflicts of interest and numerous questionable expenses involving Varnett superintendent Annette Cluff and her husband, Alsie Cluff Jr. He’s the school facilities and operations manager and serves on the governing board. The News firstwrote about the Cluffs and their charter school in 2010.
The report found the school reimbursed the Cluffs for $1.5 million worth of questionable charges on their personal credit cards. Among the charges: $132,177 on hotels, cruises and travel packages. First-class and business airline tickets worth $22,544. More than $3,000 on tickets to Broadway, Las Vegas and Disney on Ice shows. And $743 for spa services from a luxury hotel called Mandarin Oriental.
Beyond their six-figure salaries, the Cluffs made money doing business with the nonprofit school they ran, the report found. The Cluffs own a real-estate company that leases space to one Varnett campus for $1 million a year. The Cluffs own a bus company that provides student transportation, at a cost of $980,000 in 2010. That works out to $12.37 per mile driven — far more than what other charter schools paid, the state report found.
Through lawyers, the Cluffs have denied the state’s findings. “We believe the majority of the allegations in the report are legally and factually incorrect,” attorney Rusty Hardin wrote in a letter that was included with the final state report. “A number of the issues raised in the report have been continuously and
National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open
A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of
poor academic performance.
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html
as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of
poor academic performance.
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html
CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS
A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.