NEWS
- Charter school founder, company agree to pay $3 million to settle lawsuit [Dorothy I. Height Community Academy PCS, DC Bilingual PCS and Friendship PCS mentioned]
- Community Academy settlement should go to two charters [Dorothy I. Height Community Academy PCS, Friendship PCS, DC Bilingual PCS and Washington Latin PCS mentioned]
- D.C.-area students are finalists at National Science Bowl [BASIS Washington, D.C. PCS mentioned]
Charter school founder, company agree to pay $3 million to settle lawsuit [Dorothy I. Height Community Academy PCS, DC Bilingual PCS and Friendship PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
May 4, 2015
Charter school founder Kent Amos and his management company have agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged he used the company to divert taxpayer funds from the school for his personal gain.
A consent agreement was filed in court Friday by the District of Columbia, Amos, the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter Schools, and the management company, of which Amos is president. According to the agreement — which is expected to become effective as soon as a judge signs it — the money will go to the school or to its “successors.”
Community Academy, established in 1998, is one of the oldest and largest charter schools in the city. Amos, a former corporate executive, founded the school with a mission of helping children and parents in poor neighborhoods.
Last summer, the D.C. attorney general alleged that millions of dollars had been diverted from the school for personal gain, contrary to the school’s nonprofit status. Amos and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Since 2004, the school paid more than $14 million to the company, according to court records. Management fees rose while costs declined, because the company employed fewer people and duties were shifting to school employees, records show.
Amos profited most in recent years, according to court documents. He received about $1.15 million in income in 2012 from the management company, according to federal tax records. In 2013, he received $1.38 million, including $103,000 paid to his wife, who was also listed as an employee.
In February, the D.C. Public Charter School Board voted unanimously to revoke the s chool’s charter effective July 1, citing a pattern of fiscal mismanagement. Last month, a Superior Court judge upheld that decision.
In a deal brokered by Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer C. Niles, the school’s campuses will be divided up and transferred to other entities starting next school year. One campus will be transferred to D.C. Public Schools, a second campus will go to the DC Bilingual Public Charter School, and a third campus and online school will transfer to Friendship Public Charter Schools.
Some of the proceeds from the settlement could be apportioned to the new schools.
The settlement does not resolve a separate lawsuit filed against two members of the school’s board of trustees, Ernest Green Jr. and Maurice Sykes. The complaint says that the trustees received money or expected to receive money from the school’s management company but that they failed to disclose their business dealings and acted to further the interests of Amos at the expense of the school.
Community Academy settlement should go to two charters [Dorothy I. Height Community Academy PCS, Friendship PCS, DC Bilingual PCS and Washington Latin PCS mentioned]
The Examiner
Bu Mark Lerner
May 5, 2015
The Washington Post's Michael Allison Chandler revealed yesterday that a legal settlement has been reached in the D.C. Attorney General's lawsuit against the for profit management company run by Kent Amos, the founder of the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy. Ms. Chandler states that Mr. Amos has agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that he billed Community Academy over $14 million since 2004 without providing contracted services. The DC Public Charter School Board revoked the school's charter a few months ago for financial mismanagement. This does not end court proceedings against two members of Community Academy's board of directors, Ernest Green Jr. and Maurice Sykes, who supposedly gained financially from their positions with the school.
Now comes the question of what to do with the money. The Post reporter indicates that it will go to CAPCS or "its successor." However, after this school year there will be no more Community Academy and turning the dollars over to Friendship PCS, DCPS, and DC Bilingual who will inherit the shuttered charter's students is plausible but not the best solution.
I say repair one broken promise by fixing two others. Mr. Amos was entrusted with public funds to manage a school and he completely turned his back on this solemn responsibility. Almost occurring simultaneously two other charters received assurances by the Mayor and D.C. Council that public funds would be provided to complete their capital building needs but the financing was redirected by Mayor Bowser.
Why not use the proceeds to fulfill the commitments made to Washington Latin PCS and DC Bilingual PCS? (I serve on the board of director of Washington Latin.) Each of these institutions were told that they were in line to receive $2 million from the city. The awards were passed into law by the Council and signed by Mayor Gray, with the final step being the awarding of grants by the Deputy Mayor for Education at the conclusion of a Request for Proposal process. Both of these schools had submitted applications.
The current Mayor indicated that she needed the operating funds to close the current budget deficit. But here are dollars that were not previously included on anyone's books. Splitting the money between these two schools could go along way in repairing the trust we had in our elected officials.
D.C.-area students are finalists at National Science Bowl [BASIS Washington, D.C. PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Christina Barron
May 4, 2015
Washington-area schools reached the finals of the National Science Bowl on Monday in D.C.
Roberto Clemente Middle School in Gaithersburg and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County were runners-up in the national competition.
Monday’s finals marked the end of a months-long contest that began with nearly 15,000 students. To progress, the teams of four answered questions about math and science.
The winning teams were Fort Settlement Middle School from Sugar Land, Texas, and Mira Loma High School from Sacramento, California.
Middle school teams also competed in a race of battery-powered model cars. BASIS Washington, D.C., charter school finished second in that contest.
The top high school prize was a nine-day trip to Alaska. The Thomas Jefferson team won a five-day trip to national parks in the Western United States. The top three middle schools received trophies and $1,000 for their science departments.
FROM FOCUS
 |
Upcoming events
Click Here > |
__________