Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Historic Native Charter School Closed for Financial Mismanagement

A school founded 30 years ago to provide a nurturing atmosphere for Native American children is on the verge of collapse because financial oversight is so lacking there the state of Minnesota and the Minneapolis school district have withdrawn support for the school. Without the sponsorship of the school district, the school cannot stay open. The school board's decision to sever ties with Oh Day Aki/Heart of the Earth beginning Sept. 9 comes after a recent state-mandated audit revealed more than $160,000 missing, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The executive director is under investigation. Another story in the Star Tribune, detailed the director’s lavish lifestyle and the fact that his resume included false information about his background and education. About 220 students attended the school.

Here's a question. Doesn’t the school board have to bear some of the blame for this? According to the Star Tribune, the director was writing checks to himself, in contradiction of school policy, which he somehow managed to thwart. And where was the due diligence when he was hired. If the newspaper could find out he’d lied on his resume, why didn’t the school board?

3 comments:

  1. Yes i think the school has to help out. They are the ones that hired him. And did not check him out very good

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  2. Article is no good without names and if this person is still out there. why not tell people his name and school board members .names

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  3. The name is published in the Star Tribune articles and the links to those articles are in the original post.

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