Some parents sent a letter to Dade officials about the way the school is being run. Then the owner of the charter school, the Academy of Arts and Minds, became angry.
When the parents sent the letter he used the word "ignorant" in speaking of them. That is degrading and unprofessional.
Alonso-Poch says the complaints are hooey: "For a group of misinformed, ignorant parents who don't trust anything to attack my hard work is very offensive."
How it got started:
Coconut Grove charter school owner accused of bilking taxpayers
The academy's Parent Teacher Student Association sent a searing letter last month to Dade officials alleging fraud and malfeasance, including a governing board made up of relatives and lackeys that pays Alonso-Poch inflated rent.
Miami's Coconut Grove Charter School is his in almost every way. He has 3 companies that profit from the school.
One company handles the real estate end and profits greatly from the rental charge. His food service company makes money for him also. He also has set up a charter management company to run the school.
Someone needs to tell Alonso-Poch that when one school get 2.4 million dollars in taxpayer money in one year, as they did last year, it becomes the business of the parents.
And even more, someone in authority needs to have a chat with Mr. Alonso-Poch about photo-copying textbooks. From the same link:
But several parents began noticing problems at the school last year. At a board meeting in January, the school’s former principal, William Machado, expressed doubts about the school’s practice of photocopying textbooks for the students, records show.
Holloman said Machado expanded the number of classes last year before ordering the necessary supplies, leading to the book shortage.
Tony Manning, who graduated from the school in June, said students had to purchase many of their own textbooks and were regularly given extra credit for bringing reams of paper. Manning, 18, dropped an Advanced Placement biology course after learning he would have to shell out $150 for the college-level text.
Photocopying textbooks? I think there may be laws about that.
Loopholes in Florida law make it hard for local districts to hold charter schools accountable.
People who want to start up their own charter school must go through a rigorous application process. But after that initial hurdle, the school founders get a lot of freedom over how to run their publicly-funded schools and who to hire. And because of loopholes in Florida statues, a lot of taxpayer dollars can end up in the hands of one person.
Actually there are a lot of problems in monitoring those who set up charter schools, so I disagree with comment about the "rigorous application process."
More:
Loopholes In Florida Law Mean Little Oversight of Charter Business Deals
Progress reports in Miami-Dade county schools have already been issued. But students at the Academy of Arts and Minds in Coconut Grove didn’t get a grade in biology, because they haven’t had a biology teacher for the first six weeks of school.
The IRS is taking a look at some charter schools because of their "overlapping business ties."
Charter schools around the country are known for having overlapping business ties.
And Marcus Owens, the former department head of the IRS’s tax-exempt division, says that has given charters a reputation at the IRS for having a high potential for corruption.
Charter Schools Earn A Reputation at the IRS
“Certainly when the IRS comes across charter schools it looks closely at those relationships, and in fact it’s one that the IRS identified well over 10 years ago in the charter school area as a potential abuse area.”
The Miami-Dade School Board is also taking a closer look. They are doing an audit of the school.
Audit Ordered For Coconut Grove Charter School
COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) – The Miami-Dade School Board ordered a forensic audit to be conducted on the Arts and Minds Academy charter school in Coconut Grove, where questions have been raised about school funding. A group of angry parents demanded the district to get involved.
The decision, reached Wednesday afternoon, will include a search for misappropriated funds, missing equipment, and possible malfeasance in following state rules set forth for publicly funded charter schools.