More Details on Dallas Charter School Fraud

From Dallas Morning News:

The former superintendent of a Dallas charter school that collapsed in bankruptcy filed for personal bankruptcy herself shortly after she left the school in 2006, court records show.

Delores Beall, who ran Lynacre Academy, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in July 2006 with nearly $200,000 in outstanding debt, including mortgages and credit card payments, according to bankruptcy filings.

The case is still open.

Ms. Beall opened the charter school in southwest Dallas in 1999 and ran it until 2006.

After leaving her position as school superintendent, she filed for bankruptcy in federal court. Then, she filed a lawsuit in state district court against a Lynacre staff member and school board members. The suit alleges that she was fired for no reason and is owed back pay because school officials broke her employment contract.

School officials filed counterclaims accusing her of fraud and failing to fulfill her duties as superintendent. That case was moved to federal court last year in connection with her bankruptcy proceedings.

Ms. Beall has not spoken publicly since Lynacre Academy closed its doors last Friday because of insolvency. She has not responded to requests for interviews. Billy D. Price, her bankruptcy attorney, did not respond to phone messages Thursday.

"There was some very bad mismanagement that went on," said Shari Bruce, the board's president.

The dispute between Ms. Beall and Lynacre board members centers on $750,000 that the school owes the state for inflating attendance figures during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years. . . .