Minnesota charter schools lose $1.3 million in funding due to false attendance
A charter school with campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul has lost $1.3 million in state funds after allegedly falsifying attendance records, which follows an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Education,
The information was revealed in a recent filing after the Minnesota Internship Center attempted to appeal the Department of Education's decision to decrease its aid by $1.3 million. However, the Court of Appeals upheld the decision. This is the school's second attempt to appeal this decrease in funding.
According to the filing, the school had allegedly manipulated attendance records, reporting an average daily membership of 520.98 in the fiscal year 2018. It also claimed that based on the 2018 enrollment number, 485 students would need free or reduced lunch in 2019.
However, the complaint filed said that employees were directed not to withdraw inactive students, despite being required to after 15 consecutive days of absence. This was allegedly done solely for financial benefit, the filing reads.
An audit was conducted in 2019 and completed by October 2021. The results showed nine types of reporting inaccuracies related to general education revenue, resulting in a net decrease in average daily membership of 137.28.
The audit also found six types of reporting inaccuracies that decreased the number of enrolled students eligible for free lunch to 131.
The total recommended adjustment resulted in an overall decrease of $1,356,546.87.
According to the Star Tribune, Tracy Eberlein, school principal and board chair, said none of the employees involved in falsifying records work at the school anymore.
“We had a big staff turnover,” Eberlein said. “The people who weren’t doing their jobs were let go or quit on their own.”
The school’s executive director is one of the few remaining employees from that time but was working as an assistant director at the time, according to Eberlein.
