Lack of oversight an issue for model charter school system

Records show close ties at Richard Allen where there should be independence

Richard Allen Schools opened a downtown campus in the former United Way Building at 184 Salem Ave. last year. The school, Richard Allen Academy II, is for students in grades 2-6.

Jim Witmer/Staff Richard Allen Schools opened a downtown campus in the former United Way Building at 184 Salem Ave. last year. The school, Richard Allen Academy II, is for students in grades 2-6.

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By Christopher Magan and Margo Rutledge Kissell, Staff Writers Updated 1:24 AM Sunday, June 12, 2011

Ohio taxpayers contribute millions of dollars to a Dayton-based charter school system known for the type of strong academic performance that would make any urban educator envious.

But Richard Allen Schools are also becoming known for something less desirable: questionable oversight of how the schools are run and how their money is spent.

A Dayton Daily News examination found that of the $6.5 million in tax dollars Richard Allen Schools received in 2009, more than $1 million went toward management and consulting firms founded by Jeanette C. Harris, Richard Allen’s CEO and president.

State auditors announced in March they uncovered $89,067 in misspent funds and numerous bookkeeping omissions and irregularities, and a “deeper, special audit” of the system’s finances is now under way. The schools are currently operating with a $234,000 deficit, according to Harris.

Harris characterized most of the audit findings as misunderstandings, and denied she has undue influence in her schools’ oversight.

“Our thrust is educating children. That is the drive from the administration all the way down to the janitor,” she said. “We don’t steal, we don’t cheat. There is no misappropriation of money in this organization.”

A Daily News examination of Richard Allen Schools’ tax filings, audits and public records shows Harris has close ties to every part of her schools’ operation, including the board charged with overseeing how the money is spent. For example:

• Kids Count of Dayton, the nonprofit sponsor charged with independently overseeing Richard Allen Schools, was founded by Harris. Until 2009 she also served as its vice president.

• Another nonprofit she formed, the Institute of Management Resources, manages millions in tax dollars for Richard Allen’s three Dayton schools and one school in Hamilton. Harris served as president of that organization until 2008.

• A for-profit company Harris founded and still runs, the Institute of Charter School Management Resources, provides consulting for the schools and collects lease payments on its facilities.

• The school’s sponsor, its headquarters and the management and consulting firms all share the same Patterson Boulevard address. Kids Count also listed Harris’ Kettering home as an address as recently as 2009, state records show.

“Essentially they are providing oversight for themselves,” said Piet van Lier, who researches K-12 education for Policy Matters Ohio, a think tank with liberal leanings. “It is unbelievable that this is allowed to happen in Ohio charters.”

Harris is one of the area’s highest-paid educators. Last year she made $220,490 — the bulk of which she says came in consulting fees from charter schools in other states, and not as president of Richard Allen Schools.

But Harris isn’t the only family member on Richard Allen’s payroll. Her daughter, Michelle Thomas, earns $133,422 as the superintendent of the schools, according to tax records.

Harris doesn’t see the hiring of her daughter as a conflict. “As long as she is doing a good job, I don’t think the board is going to fire her,” Harris said.

Harris’ husband, the Rev. Earl Harris, has also had a strong role in guiding the schools’ vision, though he is not on the payroll. He was once a board chairman for the charters and still attends every school board meeting in a non-voting, emeritus role. Charter schools, which exploded in numbers during the last decade as an alternative to problems in the public schools, are increasingly under fire for their oversight and accountability practices, including what are often close connections between the schools and the governing boards that are supposed to serve as independent bodies.

“To have a successful charter program, you have to have accountability,” said Terry Ryan, a school reform advocate with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which sponsors its own charter schools. He added that a key to accountability is independent oversight.

Some of the loudest voices calling for tougher oversight of charters are coming from charter advocates.

A proposal approved by the Ohio House that limited the clout of charter governing boards brought stinging criticism from Ryan and Chester Finn Jr., president of the Fordham Foundation and a former assistant education secretary in the Reagan administration. State senators removed the provision, but the issue could re-emerge in a conference committee, where lawmakers finalize details in the state budget.

“We are at a crossroads,” Ryan said of the charter movement in Ohio. “The House (proposal) will take us further down that nebulous road where it is not clear who is responsible for what.”

Strong performance

On the most recent state report card, Richard Allen Schools received one “effective” and two “continuous improvement” ratings, or one B and two Cs. Those are strong scores for a system serving an inner-city population. The schools typically outperform their Dayton Public Schools counterparts on state tests, while students at Richard Allen Preparatory posted the highest average score on the 2010 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy assessments in Montgomery County, edging out Oakwood students.

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