LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The future of a charter school in the east Las Vegas valley remains murky, as it owes the state more than $800,000, according to documents.
Eagle Charter School, located near Sahara and Eastern avenues, finished its first full year on May 17, but the state agency in charge of policing charter schools accuses the school of misusing taxpayer dollars.
“If we have one school that makes a mistake, especially with money, it makes it look like, ‘Oh see, all those charter schools are bad. They all manipulate the funds,’” Tamika Shauntee Rosales, a member of the State Public Charter School Authority, said at a May 17 meeting.
That mistake has been a big one.
The State Public Charter School Authority accuses Eagle of owing the Nevada Department of Education $837,000 and of giving them incorrect and inflated budget numbers.
“Did the board approve staff to spend the overpayment funds from NDE, or did staff go rogue and spend the funds without your approval?” SPCSA member Kurt Thigpen said.
Responding to that question at the May 17 meeting, a member of Eagle Charter School’s board denies administrators went rogue.
“There are some things we could’ve done better, have stronger controls,” Tyrone Johnson, who sits on the Eagle Charter School Board, said. “I will be honest with you, I can tell you, no one here was going rogue.”
Eagle’s board acknowledged that it made mistakes, taking a different approach from April when its members openly pushed back against the SPCSA.
“In the last meeting, we get either silence or we don’t know,” Thigpen said.
How did Eagle get here?
According to SPCSA, the charter school projected last year to have 306 students enrolled by August, which is why it received $837,000. But, enrollment was nearly half that.
As a result, the State Public Charter School Authority said Eagle will not receive any per pupil-centered funding until the Nevada Department of Education is paid back in full.
“I really want the board to know that we’ve put measures to make sure this does not happen again,” Johnson said. “That’s what I’m really worried about because, at the end of the day, this money belongs to our kids.”
The State Public Charter School Authority announced at the May 17 meeting it would audit Eagle and its enrollment numbers on June 3.
