Audit points to charter school problems

Terry Webster

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

A Nevada Department of Education audit of the Odyssey Charter School cites record-keeping deficiencies and allegations that the school is not following its own charter.

Aside from being unable to account for all of the students Odyssey has reported it enrolled, the state claims the computer-based school does not have the technology called for under its agreement.

"Primarily, in addition to the student counts, we felt they really aren't living up to what they said they would do in the charter," said Douglas Thunder, Department of Education deputy superintendent of administrative and fiscal services.

State officials wrote in an April 10 letter to Odyssey that the school was supposed to be based on a satellite connection network between the students and teachers, to allow for daily interaction via the computer.

According to the state, the network doesn't exist.

Additionally, state officials point to a provision in the charter that states the teacher will be available by e-mail or telephone to help the student. But students usually have to wait until the end of the day or the next day to speak to a teacher.

Another problem area cited by the state is a lack of accurate attendance records. Originally, the school intended to have the computer keep track of the amount of time the student spends on the computer and on each lesson.

"During our January 2000 visit, we reviewed the student logs," reads a letter from the state education's audit and accountability department. "Many of the logs were incomplete, had ditto marks, the same number of minutes per (student) listed for each day ... and questionable subject matter appeared to be approved by the teacher."

Other areas of concern for the state include:

Mary Peterson, state superintendent of public instruction, said the decision to withhold state funding from the school does not mean its charter is being revoked.

The state pulled Odyssey's funding because the audit could only account for 55 students when the school claimed it had 336 students enrolled on Sept. 17, the date the state uses to calculate official enrollment.

"This is just for the remainder of the year," Peterson said. "It is not a revocation of their charter. We're not doing that and we're not recommending that."

She did admit the school "had problems setting up its computer network."

Withholding the funding will cost the school about $370,000, the amount the school was set to receive for its final aid payment of the fiscal year.

The state already gave the school more than $1 million, based on $4,494 per pupil, Peterson said.

Odyssey's budget, according to Peterson, includes $15,000 for instructional expenses; insurance, $26,000; building, $31,000; payroll, $553,000; professional fees and administration, $575,000, and net income, $169,000.

On Tuesday, Odyssey's telephone was answered by a voice mail system throughout the day. Messages to Vee Wilson, Odyssey administrator, were not returned.

Since the elimination of state funding could cause the school to shut down, several parents of the school have filed a lawsuit against the state and the Clark County School District.

Attorney Martin Kravitz, who is representing the parents, called the state "a bureaucrat's bureaucrat" in its handling of the Odyssey case.

"The program was very attractive for students who were at risk of dropping out of public school," Wilson said in a sworn statement accompanying a District Court preliminary injunction to prevent the school from closing.

Wilson said the school enrolled a number of children who have health problems that would not allow them to regularly attend a traditional public school. Other children in the program have had difficulty remaining on task in a traditional school setting.

In his statement, Wilson also said the audit staff concluded the only students who could be eligible for funding were those who had spent time in person with a teacher that was equal to one day of attendance between Aug. 23 and Sept. 17.

"I was told that only face-to-face time with a teacher was acceptable for counting attendance time," Wilson said.

He also claims withholding funds from the school will destroy it.

"Without funds, Odyssey will be forced to terminate its program, disrupting the education of the children enrolled in the program," Wilson said.

He also said public schools would be disrupted because of Odyssey's students arriving late in the school year.

"A halt in funding prevents Odyssey from meeting its contractural obligations to teachers, administrators and vendors," Wilson said. "The teachers, many of whom are on leave of absence from the school district, would be unemployed."

Along with Odyssey, the Clark County School District oversees the Keystone Academy Charter High School in Sandy Valley.

The same procedure was used to audit all of the charter schools, Peterson said.

None of the other charter schools are facing the loss of their funding, she said. Nevada has five charter schools.

Terry Webster covers education for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4091 or by e-mail at terry@lasvegassun.com