Troubled School Wins Vote

For the second time this summer, an Antelope Valley school board has ignored the advice of its district staff and voted to continue backing a charter school that may owe the state more than $1 million.

The year-old Desert Sands Charter School operates campuses in Lancaster and Palmdale. It specializes in home-study programs for students who have struggled in traditional classrooms. As a charter school it receives state funds, but it operates on a for-profit basis.

Earlier this summer, a district-commissioned audit found that the school could not produce documentation to back up its enrollment figures, said Jane Maxwell, assistant superintendent of the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

The school says it currently has roughly 1,000 students. The state uses enrollment numbers to calculate the amount of money it gives to schools.

Jan Sterling, director of fiscal services for the California Department of Education, said the school owes a large amount of money to the state--though she could not say how much--because of overpayments it has received from the state based on its reported enrollment figures. The district’s audit had suggested that the owed amount could be more than $1 million. Desert Sands will not receive any additional payments from the state for the coming school year until the money is repaid, Sterling said.

Desert Sands officials referred calls to their attorney, who could not be reached for comment. They have defended the school’s educational record and bookkeeping practices in the past.

Because of the problems with the enrollment figures, the staff of the Antelope Valley district recommended that the district refuse to renew Desert Sands’ charter. But the board, in a 3-2 vote Monday night, rejected that suggestion.

District staff members first recommended that the board deny the charter in June. However, on June 19, the board voted to extend the charter for five years on a conditional basis.

The board will reconvene Thursday to decide whether to grant final approval for the charter, Maxwell said.