Charter Principal Gets Caught Engaging in Financial Shenanigans and is Punished with a $215K Payout
– Los Angeles Daily News, 11/30/16
The administration at El Camino Real Charter High School (ECRCHS) admits that David Fehte charged “more than $6,000” in personal charges on his school-issued credit card. An investigation by the Los Angeles Daily News found that “over the two years, Fehte charged more than $100,000 to the card”, including “$15,500 at Monty’s” Prime Steaks & Seafood and “first-class airfare and luxury hotel rooms”. The LAUSD Charter School Division found that the school had “no policy for Credit Card use” and issued a Notice to Cure on October 28, 2015. Almost a year later the “CSD still had ongoing concerns regarding the capacity and accountability of the Charter School, the charter organization, and its governing board, to operate ECRCHS effectively and in compliance with applicable laws and the terms of its charter”. The LAUSD Board scheduled a hearing to discuss Notice of Intent to Revoke ECRCHS’ charter.
Press reports at the time said that the process was halted when Fehte “heeded calls for his resignation and stepped down after an 11th-hour deal.” However, the Memorandum of Understanding between ECRCHS and the LAUSD did not specify the terms of Fehte’s departure. It only stated that “effective October 26, 2016, David Fehte will not longer be the Executive Director of ECRCHS and will no longer be employed at ECRCHS.” The LAUSD Board should have paid Charter Principal Gets Caught Engaging in Financial Shenanigans and is Punished with a $215K Payout:
