Texas Charter School Operator Blazes Trail of Corruption

Here's a headline and intro from a recent story about the El Paso School of Excellence, one of four charter schools operated by the Rylie Faith Family, Inc (article via KFOX14):

El Paso Charter School Reportedly Threatened To Be Closed

Dena Richardson/KFOX News Reporter

EL PASO, Texas -- According to the superintendent of the El Paso School of Excellence, a local charter school, the owner of the charter has threatened to take action that would essentially close the school.

Superintendent Jack Ammons told KFOX the family that owns the charter has threatened to return the charter back to the state.

...

Yes - the family that owns the charter is now threatening to shut down one of their privately run schools after more than ten years of shoddy bookkeeping, nepotism, cheating, and corruption. This isn't your run-of-the-mill charter scandal - it's almost as if they're trying to vie for the title of "America's Most Corrupt Charter School" chain (although the Imagine Schools folks probably have that title safely in their hands).

Let's go back ten years. Believe it or not, it was a full decade ago that the TEA had to step in and start regulatin' charters run by the Rylie Faith Family, which was founded by Don and Karen Belknap. Here's a clip from a 2005 article about the schools (with my bolds):

In 2000, as problems escalated at the Rylie charter schools, the state dispatched a retired public school superintendent to sort it all out.

Jack Ammons found the schools $400,000 in debt and operating without a budget. Family members and friends of the founders populated the payroll. There was no coherent curriculum, and no urgency to improve.

"They were basically running a $5 million ... [business] with just a checkbook," Dr. Ammons said. "And they were spending [taxpayer] money like it was their own."

...

Rylie Faith Family, the nonprofit organization that operates Inspired Vision, A+ Academy and two charter campuses in El Paso, received a little more than $8 million in public funds last year.

Rylie Faith Family co-founder Karen Lewis Belknap said recently that the schools' early mistakes were the result of inexperience in accounting for public money.

"Charter schools want to do it right," said Mrs. Belknap, who began the charter with her husband, Don. "We're not just out here trying to scrape the system. We're finally at the point now where we're getting the advice we need."

Today, the schools are ready to stand on their own again, Dr. Ammons said. Finances are stable, achievement is improving, and former public school administrators are in charge.

...

School records show that the Belknaps and their children collected $420,000 in pay and reimbursements from the schools between September 2000 and August 2002.

The Belknaps hired friends and family, they said, because they couldn't get anybody else to work for them.

"We hired the most educated people we could find, and that was family," Mr. Belknap said. "Why would we fire them just because they're kin?"

More than three dozen family members and parishioners of the Belknaps' church were on the payroll in 2002, including a cousin who was in charge of special education. Her previous work was as a cashier at Kmart and McDonald's, records show.

Despite all the problems, the Belknaps continued to apply to start new schools. In May 2000, state officials gave them permission to open two more schools. [Ken's note: seriously?]

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State education officials launched an investigation of the charters' books in 2000 and installed Dr. Ammons in a position advising the Belknaps. The results of the investigation were turned over to the Dallas County district attorney's office, but no charges were ever filed. The management problems continued, however, and in 2003, the state shut down the original Dallas school, leaving the family with two schools on three campuses.

...

Among the most important changes at the Rylie schools has been the infusion of professional educators into the operation. The Belknaps hired a retired public school superintendent, Gerald "Rosie" Rosebure, to run the daily operation.

A new principal replaced the Belknaps' son, Brenton, who for years ran the 870-student A+ Academy despite having no administrative or managerial experience. Dr. Rosebure has also hired a respected public school business manager to oversee the organization's finances.

...

Despite the housecleaning and newfound optimism, questions remain over how the reorganized schools will operate in the long term. For instance, Don and Karen Belknap serve two roles under Dr. Ammons' reorganization. Not only do they report to Dr. Rosebure as employees, they also hired him as members of the schools' board of directors.

"Sometimes when we sit down for a meeting, we're not sure who's the boss," acknowledged Dr. Rosebure.

Dr. Ammons said the schools have come a long way, but their operation is not perfect. He said he may recommend releasing the schools from his supervision in the next couple of months.

A little while later, Dr. Ammons released the schools from his supervision. But just a months down the road, TEA began investigating the schools for financial mismanagement and Dr. Ammons returned to the schools along with another TEA advisor, Karen Case, in an attempt to right the ship. When the results of the audit were finally released, it was pretty darn clear the Belknaps were up to their usual tricks (via the Dallas Morning News):

A state audit has found rampant financial mismanagement at three family-run Dallas charter schools – including fictional renovations, imaginary travel and hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted for.

The Texas Education Agency has forwarded its findings to the Dallas County district attorney's office for possible prosecution. Federal regulators have also been notified.

The schools – A+ Academy in Dallas and two Inspired Visions Academy campuses in Dallas and Mesquite – were founded by Don and Karen Belknap. They have been the target of numerous state audits and investigations into allegations of nepotism, sloppy record-keeping and loose financial controls.

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Many of the most serious allegations in the new audit involve Tommy Thomas, who was the schools' superintendent for slightly over a year until last October. The audit raises concerns that he may have abused his position through a fraudulent reimbursement scheme. Among the findings of the audit:

•Mr. Thomas received more than $40,000 in "travel allowances" over a single school year. The allowances were never approved by the charter schools' board, auditors found, and Mr. Thomas did not provide "adequate documentation" he had actually spent the money.

•Mr. Thomas ordered his business staff to cut him a check for more than $17,000 for "certification stipends." According to his contract, he was due no such stipends.

•Mr. Thomas' wife – now ex-wife – is alleged to have received payments from the charter schools totaling $124,000 over a 13-month period. She also was appointed to the schools' board, in apparent violation of nepotism rules.

•Mr. Thomas was reimbursed more than $2,500 for furniture and the renovation of his office at the El Paso School of Excellence, a sister school run by the Belknaps. But that school's founder, J.L. Lewis, says there is no such office.

...

Additional findings

Some of the other findings in the audit:

•One of the two Inspired Visions campuses was moved to a new facility last fall, but apparently without proper permission from state officials. That could force the school to repay most of its state funding for the first few weeks of the school year.

•The organization that officially oversees the charter schools, RFFA Inc., improperly repaid a $200,000 debt of its since-closed charter school, Rylie Faith Family Academy. The money was provided with taxpayer-provided funds from the family's other charter schools, which the audit found was an "inappropriate use" of those funds.

•The schools regularly commingled funds between accounts and had only limited control of spending – including the use of presigned blank checks to pay bills when they came up.

•The Belknaps' family church operated out of the schools' administration building on Military Parkway and did not pay for the space or utilities – despite demands by the TEA in 2004 that the church pay those bills.

Despite all the corrective actions and the seemingly endless work by the TEA, the Belknaps have been allowed to keep their charter fiefdom (they did lose one charter a number of years ago). These days, however, it appears the Belknaps may be willing to surrender their charter instead of continuing their financial mismanagement and corrupt ways. Dr. Ammons - still working to get the charter into safe territory - closed the El Paso School of Excellence middle school due to low attendance and fired the principal, J.L. Lewis (the elementary school is still open). The most recent article about the Belknap's charter chain makes this claim:

Ammons said the threat to shut down the school was made following the termination [of J.L. Lewis].

Lewis is not only a Pentecostal minister, he's also the brother of Karen Belknap. Of course, Lewis didn't mention this fact when he was recently interviewed by KFOX14. That might make look like, oh, nepotism?

The good folks at the Texas Freedom Network were asking questions about the expansion of charters - all the way back in 2001. Check out this report, Broken Promises II: the Texas Charter School System at Five Years, which expresses concerns about financial mismanagement, nepotism, and shoddy academic practices. No matter your take on charter schools, it's awfully clear that a significant amount of regulation is necessary to prevent things like this from happening. No one gains from this scenario - well, except for the Belknaps and their well-connected pals.

At the end of the day, closing the El Paso School of Excellence mid-year (as would be the case if the Belknap's give the charter back to the State of Texas) only hurts children, families, and teachers at the school - and it'd dump students back into the public schools. The Belknaps? Heck, they'd have one less headache to attend to and their tax-funded piggy bank would dry up.

Hey - do you think another relative could hook 'em up with a job?