RH Jones: Take care of business and PASS HB 315!

RH Jones to John Curry, January 19, 2008
Subject: Re: I thought STRS was paid "upfront" but now......apparentl not!
Another charter school....another ripoff!

John Curry and all:

How in the world can the Ohio STRS know that these charter school teaching employees meet any state standards of certification? A for-profit school has only one thing in mind: profit! They could care less about state certification requirements. When it comes to profit, cheaper is best. Therefore, the legislature needs do away with these type of "schools" that are taking tax dollars away from our STRS and public school districts.

And, all the while, the Ohio School Boards Association claims the STRS needs to provide the funding increase for health care for retired teachers instead of them, the employer. Where do they think the STRS will get the money?. They stood back and did little to stop the creation of for-profit schooling. And with a organization called the Ohio Association of Business Managers, a group of "leaders" who have lead Ohio down into high unemployment and recession, think in the same way. With unscrupulous politicians who created and voted for the for-profit schools, together, they all need to realize the wrong that they have done to Ohio and Ohio's children and their elderly retired teachers. I do think we, as their public school teachers, did fail in the subject of their business education, or they would know better. Perhaps there also needs to be more emphasis on teaching for the common good. Take care of business and PASS HB 315!

This is my personal opinion,

RHJones, a STRS retired members and registered Ohio voter

From John Curry, January 10, 2008
Subject: I thought STRS was paid "upfront" but now......apparently not! Another charter school....another ripoff!

Closed charter schools' mess lingers Harte Crossroads owes millions, report says

Thursday, January 10, 2008

By Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The charter schools in Columbus City Center crashed and burned months ago, but their ashes continue to smolder.

The forensic accountant appointed in April to seize Harte Crossroads Public Schools' assets and sort through the wreckage of their finances recently provided this tally:

• $2.66 million could be owed to 188 creditors. Former teachers want to be paid, as do the schools' vendors and the State Teachers Retirement System. The schools also were behind on rent and apparently hadn't paid for school lunches.

Closed charter schools' mess lingers Harte Crossroads owes millions, report says Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:28 AM By Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The charter schools in Columbus City Center crashed and burned months ago, but their ashes continue to smolder.

The forensic accountant appointed in April to seize Harte Crossroads Public Schools' assets and sort through the wreckage of their finances recently provided this tally:

• $2.66 million could be owed to 188 creditors. Former teachers want to be paid, as do the schools' vendors and the State Teachers Retirement System. The schools also were behind on rent and apparently hadn't paid for school lunches.

• More than $1 million is owed in taxes and to federal and state education departments for grants.

• An auction of school furniture and supplies raised $7,826.50 to help pay those debts. But missing computers -- maybe dozens -- are presumed stolen.

Only one other school, the International Preparatory School in Cleveland, closed with similar fireworks. It, too, is ensnared in litigation and is under receivership.

"The whole thing is just one big tragedy on so many levels," said Anita Nelam, who founded and operated Harte Crossroads.

As of Tuesday, 77 students who were on Harte Crossroads' student list had not enrolled in the Columbus City Schools or another area charter school, a district spokesman said. About 130 students enrolled in the Columbus district.

The charters opened as two single-sex schools in 2004 and operated in the mall until March 2006.

Shortly after they closed, claims were made against the schools by their former sponsor, the Ohio attorney general, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Taxation.

A state audit of the schools, whose books were declared unauditable a year ago, is now under way.

The receiver, Rebekah Smith, a forensic accountant with GBQ Partners in Columbus, organized the summer auction. After paying for storage, advertising and an auctioneer, Smith was left with $2,164.67.

In her latest report to a judge, she said she is working with the schools' banks to make sure funds are accounted for.

She said if wrongdoing by directors and officers is proved, she might be able to make an insurance claim.

The receiver's report also says she might try to recover money from Nelam, who moved to South Carolina. She now works as director of operations for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign in South Carolina.

Nelam said no one has contacted her.

A significant amount of money could come from federal funding for school lunches that was never paid because the schools apparently never submitted the proper paperwork. The receiver plans to file that paperwork when she finds records justifying it. Half of the records still haven't been located.

Sorting through the financial rubble will take at least several months, said Todd Marti, an assistant attorney general in Ohio. It could take years, he said.

"I guess the takeaway from this whole thing is this is a huge mess," Marti said. "We need to do things to prevent these things from happening rather than clean up afterwards."

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com
A forensic accountant said she may try to recover money from Anita Nelam, who founded the schools and operated them until 2006.