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Oct

19

Charter school operators steal away to Parma


The Performing Arts School of Metropolitan Toledo has been in the news at least a few times this year. And, today, this Toledo Blade article details the latest revelations of alleged wrongdoing, courtesy of a state audit:

The audit, which covers activities from July 1, 2006, to Feb. 9, 2007, revealed that Mr. DiCianni [husband of former school executive director, Kari DiCianni] whose role and authority at the school was never made clear to the auditor or The Blade in past interviews – distributed paychecks to students for work at the school.

But the paychecks were larger than the amount justified by time sheets.

Students told the auditor’s office that they would receive their paychecks, cash the checks, and then return the money to Mr. DiCianni.

He would then give the children a portion of the cash for their work. It is unknown what the remaining money was used for and Mr. DiCianni could not account for $48,250, the audit said.

Emily Frazee, spokesman for state Auditor Mary Taylor, said the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating.

“We would certainly hope that every penny could be repaid,” Ms. Frazee said. “It will be up to the county prosecutor whether to move forward with charges and pursue the collection of that money.”

The couple owes a combined total of $119,393, she said.

The prosecutor’s office is investigating, but,

The DiCiannis now live in Parma, Ohio, where they apparently moved after the charter school was shut down by its authorizing agency, the Toledo-based Ohio Council of Community Schools.

They could not be reached for comment.

Good models of accountability for charter schools do exist. This story from the Indianapolis Star explains how it’s done there. The article even details how the schools have very good academic successes, but, overall, stinky records with management.

In Ohio, given that so much of the public money that goes to charters ends up with for-profit managers, wouldn’t you think that the legislature would be clamoring to build in and require more accountability?

To be fair, we know that in fact legislation has been passed to improve accountability, but when you read this Blade story…Here’s some of the history of the Performing Arts school, from the same Blade piece:

The performing arts school had a series of problems involving operating deficits and it was relocated several times. It was at 425 Jefferson Ave. in downtown Toledo from July 1, 2006, to Oct. 25, 2006, then moved to 2740 West Central Ave. through the end of the school year.

The school owed $54,744 in combined unpaid rent to both property owners as of February, the audit said.

Two of the three governing board members of the school resigned after Ms. DiCianni was fired, leaving only its president, Jim Copley. He was removed in February by Ms. Perz and at the time she said she assumed control of the school.

The state auditor started the investigation in February.

The last audit of the school – for fiscal year 2004 – reported a deficit of $355,127 and a lack of proper internal financial controls to ensure the integrity of tax dollars provided to fund the school’s operation, the auditor’s office said.

Cross-posted at Wide Open.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:36 pm October 19th, 2007 in Education 

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