Principal: School Savings a Triumph: State Auditor General’s Criticism of Clemente is Called Only an ‘Opinion.’

By Genevieve Marshall, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Jul. 10–Roberto Clemente Charter School was singled out by the state auditor general for overpayment because it was able to set aside money while successfully educating students for less money than the Allentown School District, the principal said in a recent interview.

Auditor General Jack Wagner named Roberto Clemente in Allentown and two now-defunct charter schools in a June 19 news release calling for changes in the way the state funds charter schools.

Wagner called on the governor, the General Assembly and the Department of Education to standardize the funding system for the state’s 119 charter schools and 11 cyber charter schools to make it fairer for taxpayers.

The auditors found that Roberto Clemente, which opened in 2000, received $474,888 more than the actual cost of educating its students during the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years.

The other schools — Pennsylvania Global Academy and Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy in Erie County — no longer exist. But Roberto Clemente continues to educate a few hundred of Allentown’s students, mostly Latinos. The Erie charter schools closed in June 2005.

“That is [Jack Wagner's] personal opinion, not the law,” said Carlos Lopez, Roberto Clemente’s chief executive officer and principal. “My personal opinion is that the legislative body would like to save the money it pays school districts to fund our charter school students.”

It was inappropriate for Wagner to recommend changes to a state law on one charter school’s accounting practices, which are not illegal in the first place, said Tim Daniels, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools, which promotes the charter school movement.

Daniels defended Roberto Clemente’s practice of keeping about 20 percent of its annual budget in a reserve fund for capital expenses and budgetary shortfalls.

“They are managing to save money while educating students for three-quarters of what it costs the school district,” Daniels said. “That’s a testament to them.”

School districts are capped by state law at about 12 percent of their annual expenditures, but there is no such law affecting how much charter schools can save, Daniels said. Charter schools lack the ability to raise taxes and aren’t entitled to be reimbursed by the state for construction costs, he said.

As of June 30, 2006, Roberto Clemente had $407,815 in its general fund, about 21 percent of the school’s reported expenditures, Lopez said.

“There was no wrongdoing,” Lopez said. “The only thing we’re guilty of is being fiscally responsible.”

Roberto Clemente educates 230 students, all from the Allentown School District.

When a student transfers into Roberto Clemente or any other charter school, state law requires the school district to reimburse the charter school for the student’s education. The district pays an amount equal to certain budget expenditures from the previous school year.

In Roberto Clemente’s case, that amount was more than it costs the charter school to educate those students. The law does not require charter schools to refund the difference.

The Allentown School District paid the school about $3.9 million over the three years in the audit — $474,888 more than it cost to educate those students.

The audit didn’t say how the school spent the money, but Lopez said most of the money went into the reserve fund. The rest was spent on capital assets:

$171,935 for computers and instructional equipment.

$34,000 for a school bus.

genevieve.marshall@mcall.com

610-820-6585

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