Use of Funds at Charter Site Probed

By David Ovalle, The Miami Herald

Oct. 8–A financially troubled Kendall charter school is under criminal investigation after allegations surfaced of financial misconduct and misuse of public funds, according to a recently filed court document.

Armed with a search warrant, Miami-Dade schools detectives this summer raided Oxford Academy charter elementary school, hauling off computers and documents. A copy of the warrant was obtained last week by The Miami Herald.

No one has been charged. Schools police detectives are awaiting a forensic analysis of the computers.

"It’s a search warrant. It doesn’t mean anybody is tried, convicted or executed or anything else," said George Nachwalter, the attorney for the school’s owner, Maureen Samaroo.

Touted as a solution to Florida’s education woes and generally popular with the public, charter schools are supported by taxpayer dollars but are run by private operators. The belief is that students benefit from smaller classes and a more intimate learning environment.

The school district and the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office declined to comment on the pending investigation.

This year, 63 charter schools are operating in Miami-Dade County. Nine of those opened this fall.

Samaroo, 57, turned in her charter school application in September 2004, promising a "cross-cultural learning environment" and enrollment of up to 450 students. This year, according to the school district, the school has 127 students.

According to her resume, Samaroo earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education at the West Demerara Government Secondary School in Guyana, and later a bachelor of arts degree in business management and marketing from the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago.

Samaroo referred questions to Nachwalter.

AUDIT ORDERED

In November 2006, the school district’s audit committee ordered a review of the school’s finances because its operations continually ran in the red. Basic school supplies could not be bought.

"Also, there were numerous complaints from staff and parents of the school alleging improper governance, late payroll, improper expenditures and related questionable transactions," the search warrant reads.

The schools police search warrant alleges that:

–Former secretary Tatiana Escobar told investigators that Gerard Samaroo, Maureen Samaroo’s son, sent paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service claiming "false salaries paid to teachers" at the academy.

Schools Detective Norman Santana wrote in his search warrant that he believes this shows the school’s "pattern of fraud."

–Oxford received $12,467 in 2006-07 to buy instructional materials and textbooks. But no textbooks were purchased, and detectives could not figure out what the money was spent on.

–Escobar and former principal Pauline Young told detectives that Samaroo, the owner, wanted them to include on enrollment sheets names of students who didn’t actually attend the school. Charter schools receive public money on a per-pupil basis.

–Maureen and Gerard Samaroo blurred the line between the charter academy and three other corporations listed at the address: For Kids Sake Preschool Inc., Children’s First Preschool and Kids Care Investment Corp.

Maureen Samaroo has run Children’s First Preschool since 1991.

COMPANY ACCOUNTS

All four companies allegedly had separate electricity meters, even though the accounts were billed to the charter school.

Garbage fees were also paid only by Oxford, even though the day care and related companies also generated waste.

Oxford Academy apparently leased its space — paid with taxpayer dollars — from For Kids Sake Preschool, even though that would violate district rules that mandate charter school operators cannot receive extra compensation.

–According to the audit, between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006, about $408,000 — roughly 43 percent of government dollars received by the school — had "no identifiable legitimate purpose."

Included in this amount was a payment of $30,000 for "professional services" made from Oxford Academy to Kids Care Investment; a $9,313 check cashed and endorsed by Maureen Samaroo; and a $30,197 payment from Oxford to Kids Care for furniture, approved by Maureen Samaroo.

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