Charges may hinder plans for charter school in LV

Benjamin Grove

Monday, July 3, 2000 | 11:53 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A man planning a charter school for Las Vegas is involved in two financial controversies with his fledgling charter school in Washington, D.C.

In one case, Techworld Public Charter School founder Daanen Strachan reportedly used nearly $20,000 in Washington, D.C., public school money to open a school in Miami.

Strachan denies the charge, saying he used his own money -- not public school money. But the charge drew a six-month probation from the D.C. School Board pending completion of an independent audit.

And in 1998 Techworld's Board of Trustees chairman, the Rev. Reginald Green, reportedly funneled $6,657 of the school's money to his Baptist church in northwest Washington. Green returned the money, and he and another school trustee were fired, Strachan said. Green, denying wrongdoing, then sued Strachan, he said.

Charter schools are growing in numbers nationwide. The schools -- including two operating in Clark County -- are open to public school students, often regulated by states and receive public school funding but are free from some of the rules that govern public schools. The Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf plans to open this fall.

Strachan's computer-based charter schools opened in Washington in 1998 and Miami in 1999. Now Strachan has applied to open a school in Las Vegas this fall. He envisions one day opening 100 Techworld schools nationwide and in foreign countries.

But the Clark County School Board gave him only conditional approval last week, aware of the financial problems Strachan had in Washington.

The board asked Strachan to submit by July 27 more detailed information about his finances and planned facilities. The board also seeks more information about whether his curriculum would prepare students for the Nevada Proficiency Exam.

"We wanted to make sure that everything was on the up-and-up," School Board President Mary Beth Scow said. "We all support charter schools -- we want them to succeed. At the same time we want to make sure they are set up to succeed."

Strachan's pitch to the Clark County School Board is a school that offers a computer to every student and teaches technology along with the basics. The school would open with sixth and seventh graders this fall and would add a grade each year.

Students will learn computer programming, graphic design and network engineering, Strachan said in an interview.

"We're preparing students for technology jobs that are not being filled throughout the country," Strachan said. "Even colleges are not preparing students to go directly into this new workforce."

Strachan's Washington school houses 270 ninth and 10th graders in a space on the second floor of a small shopping mall in southwest Washington. The space, which shows the signs of use, was donated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It is divided by a long corridor with windowless classrooms on either side.

The school features mandatory Saturday classes, school uniforms -- including ties -- and an extended 205-day year. Strachan leases equipment and furniture, including the computers.

Strachan said the school has had a successful first two years, marred only by the two financial messes.

The first occurred when the Rev. Green took the school's money by having a D.C. check to the school diverted to his church's address.

"Once he got the check sent to his church, he deposited it to an account he called 'Techworld 2,' and then he declared that he was running the school," Strachan said. "The feds said, 'If you don't return the money today, you are going to jail.' "

Green did not return phone calls to his home. The Sun was unable to reach his attorney, John Mercer. Mercer, in a 1998 Washington Post story, strongly denied that Green did anything illegal.

Strachan found himself in trouble in March when the D.C. School Board launched an audit to determine whether he used $19,864 in public school money during 1998 and 1999 to pay for trips to Florida and materials for his new Miami school.

The audit, performed by Washington auditor Bert Smith & Co., is likely due sometime in July, said D.C. School Board president, the Rev. Robert Childs.

Childs praised Techworld as one of the best academic schools in Washington. He said he had been surprised to hear charges of financial impropriety and that the school's trustees seemed to be working to fix problems.

"They've got a good principal in there. The concept and the ideas are good; they have small classes," Childs said. "A weakness of the school had to do with its governance, several (former) members of the board of directors."

Childs said district officials would keep a close eye on the school during its probation and re-evaluate its charter after the audit.

"The thing that helps them is the strength of their academic program," Childs said. "That's why we moved so quickly to get a handle on the situation."

Strachan explained the problem with Green in a letter to the Clark County School Board at the request of Craig Kadlub, district liaison for charter schools. Strachan addressed the Miami school money problem at Monday's meeting, Scow said. The problems never affected the quality of education at the school, Strachan said.

"All charter schools have problems. What's important is how you deal with the problems," Strachan said. "I think of myself as a good manager. It's difficult to educate kids today because you have to fight so many battles."

Benjamin Grove

covers Washington, D.C., for the Sun. He can be reached at (202) 628-3100, ext. 269 or by e-mail at benjamingrove@yahoo.com.