Pasco: Charter schools pass scrutiny

Charter schools pass scrutiny

One, however, Richard Milburn Academy, is embroiled in an eviction lawsuit with Counsel Square.

By JAMES THORNER and CARY DAVIS

A watchdog committee formed after $115,000 worth of taxpayers' money turned up missing at Deerwood Academy reports few serious problems at three other Pasco County charter schools.

None of the deficiencies pinpointed at Academy at the Farm, Richard Milburn Academy and Dayspring Academy for the Performing Arts even came close to the seriousness of Deerwood's.

At least five administrators from the Pasco School District visited the charter schools. They rated each school with a seven-page checklist covering school governance, procedures, staff management, curriculum, accountability and finance.

"To put it in perspective, there's nothing in any of these reports that's going to cause us to recommend to the School Board that we close any of these," said Max Ramos, supervisor of charter schools.

Yet on the same day the committee's findings were announced, Richard Milburn Academy faced more serious troubles: The school is now fighting to stay in Counsel Square Professional Center in New Port Richey.

Lawyers for Counsel Square filed suit on Thursday to evict the school from the professional center, located on Little Road across from the West Pasco Judicial Center.

The suit centers on the charter school's alleged failure to repay building costs for an expansion project undertaken to make room for Richard Milburn Academy, said Stanford Solomon, a lawyer for Counsel Square.

"They decided they didn't want to pay back the buildout costs," Solomon said.

The Times was not able to get a copy of the lawsuit late Thursday. Officials at the school, which caters to students at risk of dropping out, could not be reached for comment.

The school has an enrollment of 51 students.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run. The idea behind them is to give parents and communities the resources to open their own public schools.

Academy at the Farm, on Handcart Road near Zephyrhills, is an agricultural school for about 136 elementary-school and preschool slow learners. The committee commended the school for its progress as a first-year school but recommended better control over disbursement of cash.

According to the report, spending was not always supported by receipts and invoices. Checks weren't signed by the school principal. Purchase orders were not prepared and approved before things were bought.

Although the committee alleged no irregularity at the charter school, such accounting neglect was the method by which Deerwood employees allegedly spent or took at least $115,000 from school coffers.

Since it opened in August 2001, Deerwood received $1.29-million from taxpayers to educate 200 middle school students. Close to 10 percent of that money is missing.

The investigation centers on Jeffrey Alcantara, 50, the former right-hand man of Deerwood's founder, Hank Johnson. Alcantara dealt with school vendors, and his teenage daughter acted as school bookkeeper.

Alcantara has not been charged in the Deerwood case, but has a history of credit card fraud, theft and drug convictions. He served two years in federal prison for fraud.

"In light of what happened at Deerwood, we want to give Academy at the Farm the best advice possible to avoid a circumstance like that," Ramos said.

Another charter school evaluated was Dayspring Academy, with 298 students in grades K-9 on Ponderosa Avenue in Port Richey.

Some teachers at Dayspring taught outside their field, the report said. Other "basic education" teachers were hired as experts in their fields, but the job description doesn't provide for hiring noncertified experts.

At Richard Milburn Academy, the watchdogs sought better tabulation of students with limited English. And the school district wants the school to make sure its board of directors was fingerprinted and background checked.

The School Board will review the reports at a special meeting Tuesday morning. Charter schools operate independently but rely on tax money. Combined, the three schools received about $2-million this year.

Two other Pasco charter schools, Countryside Montessori in Land O'Lakes and Language Academy in New Port Richey, will face board scrutiny in May.