San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees
Prosecutors say A3 charter schools were vehicles of fraud; six small districts benefited
Prosecutors leading the A3 charter school criminal case want to take back potentially millions of dollars of charter school oversight fees that were paid to small school districts that were supposed to hold the A3 schools accountable.
Prosecutors with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a motion last week that six small school districts — including Dehesa School District in San Diego County — were paid millions of dollars by the A3 schools to oversee them but ended up providing little to no oversight of the schools, which prosecutors said turned out to be vehicles for fraud.
The districts also collected oversight fees from the A3 schools beyond state law limits and beyond the actual costs of oversight, prosecutors allege. They want the excess oversight fees, which are state educational dollars, to be returned to the state.
The districts named in the motion are Dehesa, Trona Joint Unified in San Bernardino County, Bradley Union in Monterey, Cuyama Joint Unified in Santa Barbara, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified in Los Angeles and Meridian Elementary in Sutter.
It’s unclear exactly how much the districts would have to repay the state if the prosecutors’ motion is successful. Those amounts would be determined at a future evidentiary hearing.
Some districts named in the motion dispute the prosecutors’ claims that they provided no oversight. They also say it could be financially devastating if they are forced to pay back charter oversight money.
Dehesa, for example, already is operating with a projected $1.5 million deficit this year and expects to make $701,000 in budget cuts for next year. Bradley Johnson, who became Dehesa’s superintendent just this month, declined to comment on CONTINUE READING: San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees - The San Diego Union-Tribune
