CA Charter Operator Recruits Foreign Students, Charges Them Tuition, and More…
California-based Tri-Valley Learning Corporation (TVLC) is the center of a complex investigation that was apparently prompted when in February 2016, two foreign exchange students were apparently moved from one TVLC school to another without parental consent.
According to the July 08, 2016, East Bay Times, CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson went to the school campus from which the students went missing, in Livermore, California. Torlakson’s visit led to investigation of TVLC by the district attorney.
As the East Bay Times continues:
Although the District Attorney’s Office can’t discuss exactly what is being investigated, assistant district attorney Annie Esposito said the case is complicated and involves many pieces.The missing students sparked a domino affect, leading to allegations of fiscal mismanagement, lack of transparency and not following state education code. …Charters operate independently with their own boards, and are not allowed to charge tuition because they receive state funds.Yet, TVLC charged $15,300 in tuition and $16,000 in housing per year to the 60 foreign students it recruited. The company argued the charges were legal reimbursements for expenses related to its exchange program. …Chris Van Schaack, assistant superintendent of the Livermore Unified School District, said he hopes the corporation can clean up its mess, because the charter schools provide an alternative to students who do not want to be in bigger schools.
Apparently several hundred TVLC parents decided that those bigger, district schools are preferable to TVLC chaos and confusion. As the Mercury News reports on August 22, 2016:
LIVERMORE — On the first day of school, more than 500 new students swarmed into Livermore public schools, the vast majority fleeing the city’s two embattled charter schools in light of a litany of accusations ranging from fiscal mismanagement to criminal wrongdoing.The Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District got nearly double theCA Charter Operator Recruits Foreign Students, Charges Them Tuition, and More… | deutsch29:
