Auditor General DePasquale Reopens Audit of Fell Charter School in Lackawanna County to Obtain Tuition Billing Records
Auditor General DePasquale Reopens Audit of Fell Charter School in Lackawanna County to Obtain Tuition Billing Records
Files writ in county court to compel compliance by charter school, former management company
SCRANTON (Dec. 21, 2015) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today said he has reopened an audit released earlier this month of Fell Charter School, Lackawanna County, and filed a writ in county court to obtain tuition, enrollment, and principal certification documentation unavailable to auditors during the recent audit.
“It is infuriating that Fell Charter School has not produced sufficient documentation to justify tuition bills it sent to local school districts,” DePasquale said. “The public has a right to know whether these tuition charges are justified. On behalf of the taxpayers, today I will file a writ in Lackawanna County Court to compel this charter school and/or its former management company to once and for all completely comply with our requests for these public records.”
A writ is an order from a higher court that directs a lower court or a government official to take some kind of action. Writs are generally similar to subpoenas.
Despite a contractual relationship with a management company, charter schools, like other public schools, are required to retain records for a period of not less than six years pursuant to the Public School Code. In addition, as schools organized as public, nonprofit corporations, charter schools are subject to other document retention requirements.
DePasquale said the reopened audit also will seek information on the certification of the school’s principal who, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, has not held the required principal certification since the 2009-10 school year, yet has continued to function as the charter school’s principal.
“It is rather galling that the charter school principal has been unable to produce official proof of her state certification while at the same time making public statements that she has provided my department with such proof,” DePasquale said. “According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, she does not have, and has no pending application for, her principal certification.”
DePasquale said the audit objectives will include, but are not limited, to the following:
• Determine if Fell Charter School accurately reported its membership numbers to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the school years 2009-10 through 2013 14, and determine if the charter school’s average daily membership and tuition billings were accurate for the same time period;
• Determine the current status of the charter school principal’s professional certification;
• Determine if the charter school’s board and administrators complied with the requirements of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act for the calendar year 2014.
“We are not sure why Fell Charter School has been unable to produce records that they are required to maintain to ensure that tax dollars are being appropriately spent and that resources are being properly directed to student education,” DePasquale said.
According to the most recent audit, Fell Charter was unable to produce sufficient student accounting data for the 2008-09 through 2012-13 school years. This was coupled by another documentation-related finding: several members of the charter school board violated the state Ethics Act when they filed incomplete annual statements of financial interest; some failed to file them at all.
Additionally, the department’s previous audit in 2013 found that Fell Charter’s principal was not properly certified, as required by the Charter School Law and Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Certification Staffing and Policy Guidelines. It was determined that this individual continues to hold that position, and as of the conclusion of the most recent audit, still does not have a principal certificate.
The most recent Fell Charter School audit report is available online here.
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