Gulen Charter School Horizon Science Acadey expands to Ohio State Auditor

CLEVELAND -- Bombshell allegations made against a charter school company that runs several schools right here in Northeast Ohio. As we reported in June, the FBI raided several Horizon Science Schools in this area -- and WKYC learned that the Ohio Auditor has launched a special audit into Horizon-Concept schools. This comes as former teachers went before the Ohio Board of Education today with allegations of test-tampering, sexual misconduct and racial slurs against African American students. About a month ago, we told you that the FBI raided some of our local schools-- and now more investigations. "School officials were filling in bubbles on standardized tests, they claimed that it was because students didn't fill in circles dark enough," says Matt Blair, a former teacher. The allegations today were limited to the Horizon Science Academy in Dayton. Concept Schools charter chain runs 19 schools in Ohio, all will be part of a special audit by the Ohio Auditor's office. Teachers said they witnessed racial slurs, sexual activity among students that wasn't reported to parents and unsafe building conditions. The Ohio Department of Education has also said it will investigate the complaints. No Cleveland schools were implicated in the testimony today. Horizon Science Schools in Cleveland have had strong academic records even being named Blue Ribbon Schools http://www.wkyc.com/local/

Gulen charter school Indiana Math and Science Academy FBI raid

Federal agents collected documents from the Indiana Math and Science Academy on Wednesday afternoon under a court-ordered search warrant.

The search warrant was issued by a federal court in Ohio as part of a "white-collar" investigation being conducted by the Cleveland office of the FBI, the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Communications Commission, according to FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson. She could not divulge any other details about the investigation.

Indiana Math and Science Academy is managed by Concept Schools Inc., an Illinois-based organization that manages 30 charter schools. Nine of those schools are in the Cleveland-Dayton area of Ohio.

Concept Schools operates three charter schools in Indianapolis, with combined enrollment of nearly 1,400. The school that was searched in Indianapolis is located at 7435 N. Keystone Ave. It enrolled 591 students in the most recent school year, which concluded last month.

Katherine Beckwith, a spokeswoman for the school, said in a prepared statement that the documents were part of an audit the U.S. Department of Education was conducting of the federal “e-rate” grant program.

The e-rate program provides money to help K-12 schools pay between 20 percent and 90 percent of the cost of phone and Internet service. Participating schools must conduct a competitive bidding process to select the most cost-effective providers of phone and Internet services, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the grant program.

"Earlier this week we were asked to provide information to U.S. Department of Education officials as part of a larger federal audit of e-rate technology grants,” Beckwith said in a statement. “Those officials indicated they are auditing the funds dispersed to various schools to verify that work paid for with e-rate grants was completed as reported. We were happy to provide them with records and supporting materials detailing how e-rate grants were spent at our IMSA North school, so that they can successfully complete their audit."

http://www.ibj.com/federal-agents-seize-documents-at-charter-school/PARAMS/article/48023

 

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