Troubled Techworld’s charter officially revoked

Terry Webster

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 11:28 a.m.

Techworld Public Charter School's brief legacy in Las Vegas -- 11 weeks -- began with numerous start-up troubles and left behind a list of shady practices.

The Clark County School Board sealed the Techworld's closure here Thursday by revoking its charter. Techworld closed its school at Madison and Monroe avenues in December after it failed to secure a permanent building site. About 140 students were sent back to their neighborhood schools.

During Techworld's short tenure, teachers' paychecks were shortchanged. Financial records raised eyebrows during an internal audit. The management company failed to provide workers compensation. The firm has an outstanding bill of $4,375 owed to the Clark County School District transportation division, according to district documents.

And promises of computers for the technology-based school for sixth and seventh graders never materialized.

"The applicants implied that students would be provided with laptop computers for use at school and home," Craig Kadlub, who oversees charter schools for the school district, wrote in a district memo. "However, the laptops were 'recalled' shortly after being given to students. Techworld staff reported that not all students received laptops. Some of them did not work and most were of inferior quality."

Techworld provided two computers for its Las Vegas operation, but those were used by administrators, Kadlub said. Students used computers at the church facilities where the school was housed.

Clark County School District officials were alarmed after learning of criminal investigations at Techworld's Miami location and a audit that revealed accounting inadequacies at Techworld in Washington, D.C.

"We want every charter school to succeed," said Mary Beth Scow, School Board president. "But this one has had many problems. Unfortunately, we didn't know all of this information before we approved it. All of it just came out."

School officials said they learned Miami school police are conducting a criminal investigation with the Florida attorney general's office regarding attendance records and "financial improprieties" relating to some $600,000 in state funds.

Also in Miami, a dean was arrested on charges that he had sexual relations with a student.

In Washington, D.C., Techworld's governing board divorced itself from Techworld Management Services representatives Daanen Strachan and Kenny Strachan after deciding the management company was not serving the school, according to school reports.

A Clark County School District investigation was suspended, pending further input from the Nevada Department of Education.

Prior to its closure, Techworld was plagued with a late opening and zoning violations here.

The school attempted to open at a Maryland Parkway location, but it did not meet building codes. Then, Techworld opened temporarily at the Second Baptist and Victory Baptist churches in West Las Vegas. The permits would have expired at the end of December.

The district estimated a loss of $630,000 in funds due to per pupil state aid that was paid to Techworld.

Kadlub said the organization would have to go through another approval process if it ever attempted to operate again in Clark County.

Clark County's charter schools include Odyssey, a program designed for instruction over the Internet and Keystone in Sandy Valley. The Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf plans to open next fall.