Girls Prep Charter Suffers Financial Scandal

I love the smell of a good charter school scandal early in the morning.

Anna Phillips has a piece at Schoolbook today that is worth checking out.
We know that money can also disappear in public schools. But there are more oversights. Charters where public money is placed in private often lightly regulated hands are subject to all kinds of abuses. This one is interesting for the ties that bind.

On the board is the wife of Spencer Robinson, the billionaire's son who started PAVE in red Hook at PS 15, the only good that came out of this is the activation of the amazing PS 15 crew which includes Julie Cavanagh). Lots of hedge hogs support Girls Prep --- nice management by the Board of Directors.

Note that the alleged scam artist, Christina Garcia-Coleman, the network’s managing director of finance and operations, is also a trustee at the Spence school where Bloomberg's daughters went.

Financial Improprieties Alleged at All-Girls Charter School Network

• Girls Preparatory Charter School of the Bronx
• Spence School

Jan. 30, 2012, 3:12 p.m.

By Anna M. Phillips

A New York City charter school network has told parents that it is a victim of theft by “a senior member of the finance and operations department,” who it says used the network’s credit card to spend tens of thousands of dollars on personal items.
In a letter sent Friday to parents of students in the three Public Prep charter schools, Ian V. Rowe, the network’s chief executive, and Bryan Lawrence, the board chairman, wrote that they had discovered “financial irregularities,” but that all but $1,000 of the money would be recovered through insurance.
“Just given the context of stories about charter schools and financial issues, we decided to be proactive and let folks know that this person has resigned,” Mr. Rowe said Monday. “Believe me, I’m very upset that it occurred, but we did catch it, and the person resigned, and the schools are not affected.”
Public Prep operates three all-girls charter schools in the city, two in Manhattan and an elementary school in the Bronx.
Mr. Rowe said the network’s staff detected problems in early January. He would not specify how much money was missing.
He said the network was asking the district attorney’s office to investigate Christina Garcia-Coleman, the network’s managing director of finance and operations.
Ms. Garcia-Coleman resigned on Jan. 23. According to her biography on the organization’s Web site, she was also a board member of the network’s Bronx elementary school, Girls Preparatory Charter School of the Bronx, and resigned from that as well.
The Web site of the Spence School, a private all-girls school in Manhattan, also lists her as a trustee.
E-mail and phone messages left for Ms. Garcia-Coleman were not returned.
Here is the letter that was sent to parents:

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