Can A Superintendent Of A School District Join A Charter School Board?

To my knowledge, this is a first.  A New Castle County school district Superintendent has been nominated to join a charter school board.  I know board members from a traditional school district are not able to join a charter school board, but I don’t believe there is anything in Delaware state code that would prevent a Superintendent from joining.  With that being said, I believe this would be a HUGE conflict of interest for both the charter and the district. 

Delaware Students Want To Buy A Fire Engine!!!

The Class of 2017 at Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security are planning on buying a Fire Engine for their school.  They are requesting help on their GoFundMe page.  The total they are looking to receive is $5,000 and as of now they have collected $860.  If you want your name on a plaque, please consider donating.  The school already has a police car and an ambulance so a fire truck would complete the triumvirate of first responder vehicles.  How many people can say their name is on a fire truck?  I wish my school had this kind of stuff growing up!

 

 

Is Charter School Of Wilmington Finally Getting It With Their Admission Practices?

The Charter School of Wilmington had their monthly board meeting on Tuesday night.  On their agenda was a very interesting item about their recruitment efforts.  For years, many people in Delaware have complained about the highly ranked charter school’s insufficient number of low-income, African-American, and students with disabilities populations of students.  The school was specifically named in the American Civil Liberties Union complaint to the Office of Civil Rights about these practices.  Online debate over this issue brings out raw emotions from both sides of the issue.  It looks like Charter School of Wilmington may finally be coming around to taking a look at this fifteen year debate.

“A Discussion of programs to increase low income and special ed applications.”  Kudos to whichever board member asked for this to be put on their agenda.  It’s about time.  I can’t wait to see these board minutes when they are released!

Family Foundations Academy Considers Filing A D&O… Say What Now?

On the agenda for Family Foundations Academy’s finance committee, there is a very odd item.  Charles McDowell, also the President of FFA and East Side Charter School’s board, runs this committee.  He is also an attorney and knows his stuff.  So why would FFA potentially file a D&O Insurance Claim?  What is a D&O?

It stands for Directors and Officers.  There are several reasons why a non-profit corporation (which charter schools are) would file a D&O.  From the Travelers Insurance website:

Coverage for defense costs and damages (awards and settlements) arising out of wrongful act allegations and lawsuits brought against an organizations board of directors and/or officers.

Wikipedia goes a bit deeper:

Directors and officers liability Insurance (often called D&O) is liability insurance payable to the directors and officers of a company, or to the organization(s) itself, as indemnification (reimbursement) for losses or advancement of defense costs in the event an insured suffers such a loss as a result of a legal action brought for alleged wrongful acts in their capacity as directors and officers. Such coverage can extend to defence costs arising out of criminal and regulatory investigations/trials as well; in fact, often civil and criminal actions are brought against directors/officers simultaneously. Intentional illegal acts, however, are typically not covered under D&O policies.

I am not aware of any current lawsuits against FFA, but I did go to the Delaware Court Connect website and there is nothing listed there.  Just to be on the safe side, I checked the following individuals as well: Sean Moore, Tennell Brewington, and Charles McDowell.  Nothing with them either.  Which means something may be coming.  So what could possibly cause McDowell and the school’s finance committee to consider filing this type of claim?

All charter schools, as corporations, are required to file an IRS Form 990.  The last one FFA has on their website is from 2012, and it shows Brewington as the Principal Officer and Moore as the Co-Director.  As everyone in Delaware surely knows, the two were alleged to have made out with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school piggy bank…

Could it be… is it… are we finally going to know something on the fate of the former heads of school at FFA?

Here’s the agenda: