PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Three Pinellas charter schools operated by the for-profit management company Newpoint Education Partners now face a “corrective action plan” deadline by Pinellas County Schools for operating in a “deteriorating financial condition.”
The managers of those schools collect millions of public school tax dollars annually but, like other charter schools, operate autonomously under state law while being monitored by the school district under a “sponsor” contract.READ MORE: Windsor Prep faces scrutiny over $300K consulting fees, district demands changes
On Monday 8 On Your side started investigating the finances of one of those Pinellas schools – Windsor Preparatory Academy – after learning that under Newpoint’s management the school had rung up a million dollar deficit and had $300,000 in unexplained consulting fees paid to Newpoint. Windsor also had to return a $75,000 federal grant because Newpoint managers failed to explain how that money had been spent.
Now it appears two other schools in Clearwater operated by Newpoint are in the same kind of financial trouble.
On February 23 Rick Wolfe, the Pinellas district’s director of charter schools and home education, sent letters to the board chairs at Newpoint Pinellas Academy and Newpoint Charter High School notifying them that a “corrective action plan” must be submitted to the commissioner of education within 30 days.
Wolfe has also given Windsor itself 30 days to submit a “corrective action plan” and told the company to respond to seven specific concerns by March 11. Those concerns include deteriorating financial condition, inaccurate and unsubstantiated inventory, a lack of curriculum, teacher turnover and a host of financial questions.READ MORE: Pinellas charter school manager has troubled financial history across Florida
8 On Your Side discovered Newpoint has operated charter schools in six Florida counties and has either withdrawn from management contracts voluntarily or been terminated by school districts in four of those counties.
Rober Pergolizzi is chairman of Newpoint Pinellas Academy and Windsor Prep. Jack Eichert is chairman of Newpoint High School. Both men declined comment on their schools’ mounting financial problems under Newpoint’s management until they hold a school board meeting. Windsor’s meeting is set for March 17 ant 5:15 p.m.
No corporate representatives of Newpoint Education Partners have returned calls, emails or responded to 8 On Your Side’s visits to the company’s offices in Clearwater.
Wolfe’s letters to all three schools end with the same cautionary note. “The school board will remain diligent in our responsibilities as sponsor to oversee the charter school’s response to this serious financial matter,” he writes.THE STORIES OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
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