9486 in the collection
Wells St. Imagine placed on probation BSU cites issues from JG report
Don't miss the three-part examination of Imagine schools here and here. These journalists did the job. Ball State certainly can't take any credit.
Kelly Soderlund
Ball State University has placed Imagine MASTer Academy on probation after a nearly three-month investigation into violations of state law and a lack of local control by the charter school's board, officials announced Monday.
The Imagine MASTer Academy board must take a number of corrective action steps this year, otherwise the school's charter will be revoked, said John Jacobson, dean of Ball State's Teachers College, which oversees the university's charter school office.
If the school meets the goals set forth by Ball State, it will be released from probation, he said.
"It is our hope that this is the outcome with Imagine MASTer Academy," said Jacobson, who said only the Wells Street school will be placed on probation, not Imagine Schools on Broadway or the yet-to-open Imagine Bridge Academy.
Board President Don Willis was sent a letter from Larry Gabbert, director of the charter schools office, Monday morning detailing Ball State’s concerns and recommendations. Willis could not be reached for comment.
Ball State's investigation was prompted by a series of stories in November by The Journal Gazette that detailed a lack of local control over the MASTer Academy and Imagine Schools on Broadway. The newspaper's investigation found that the MASTer Academy board approved a series of measures outside public meetings that allowed the school to own and open two charter schools in Texas.
Indiana's Public Access Counselor later determined the board violated state law by not voting in a public meeting.
"As we dug deeper into the governance concerns raised in November, we determine that the board is not yet providing satisfactory oversight of the school, adhering to Indiana’s Open Door Law and not yet fulfilling its fiduciary duties," Jacobson said.
A panel of Ball State officials interviewed six of the seven Imagine board members and used information outlined in The Journal Gazette articles, Jacobson said.
Concerns detailed in the letter sent to Willis on Monday include:
•Board members were not aware or were not accurate in what the board’s role should be or how it should interact with Imagine Schools Inc., the for-profit company based in Alexandria, Va., that owns the schools.
•Several board members had not read the charter, bylaws or contract with Imagine Schools and didn't know the length of their terms as board members.
•Several board members said they weren't involved in the decision to share the board’s non-profit status with the Texas boards. Gabbert scolded Willis saying it was "unacceptable" for him to make the decision by himself without board members' input and away from the public view.
•Board members were confused by the structure of the board meetings for the three schools; weren't clear who the boards' attorney is; and could not say whether the board had officers, with one member saying she "thought she was the secretary of the board but was not certain," Gabbert wrote.
Ball State's corrective action plan for Imagine includes:
•Completing mandatory board training by July 1. Also scheduling work sessions where board members are required to read important documents affiliated with the school.
•Structuring the three boards so that no member serves on more than one. Also holding board meetings for the three Fort Wayne charter schools on separate days. Currently, the boards meet consecutively on the same night in the same room.
•Abandoning all practices where decisions are made outside of public meetings and revise the bylaws to comply with the state's Open Door Law.
•Dissociate itself with the Texas schools no later than April 30 for the Central Texas school and July 1 for the North Texas school.
Ball State is the authorizing agency behind the Fort Wayne Imagine schools and approved their charters, along with 30 other charter schools statewide. Charter schools are public schools that operate more independently in exchange for additional accountability.
In addition to four-year public universities, the mayor of Indianapolis has authority to grant charters. So far, Ball State University is the only college in Indiana to do so.
Jacobson said Ball State officials were taken by surprise after hearing of Imagine's dealings, saying most schools that are successful in other areas -- student achievement, student and employee retention, financial solvency and enrollment -- usually have appropriate governance structures.
"This was an anomaly, exacerbated by concerning events occurring outside the sight of our monitoring, public meetings and minutes and school visits," Jacobson said.
Ball State officials are evaluating how they can identify these issues earlier, Jacobson said. They have already requested that charter school boards in a specific region stagger their meetings so a Ball State representative can attend all of them, he said.
Jacobson said he would not speculate whether Imagine will meet the corrective measures set out by Ball State.
"What I can tell you is that we are in the business of helping children and schools succeed," Jacobson said. "However, we have a responsibility to hold the schools accountable."
— Kelly Soderlund
The Journal Gazette
2010-02-02
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100202/LOCAL04/302029971
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
