A charter school in Las Vegas faces closure if more than $800K in taxpayer funds are not repaid
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A newly opened Las Vegas charter school is facing allegations of misuse of taxpayer funds and could close if the money isn’t paid back, documents said.
Eagle Charter School, located near Sahara and Eastern avenues in east Las Vegas, owes the Nevada Department of Education $837,085, according to documents from the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority.
The school opened its doors in August. On Friday, plans were tentatively put in place to close Eagle Charter School unless the funds were paid back to the state of Nevada.
“You knew you were coming before us today to present and that we would have hard questions for you,” said Kurt Thigpen, a State Public Charter School Authority board member. “It’s very concerning that you don’t know these very basic answers.”
The charter school was initially projected to have 306 students enrolled in classes and receive $837,085 from the Nevada Department of Education. However, enrollment was only about half that. Despite the lower-than-expected enrollment, the State Public Charter School Authority accused Eagle Charter School of taking overpayments.
“The Eagle memo that suggests board members were not aware of the seriousness of the situation are incorrect,” Jasmine Graciano, a board member at Eagle Charter School, said.
Graciano was critical of Melissa Mackedon, State Public Charter School Authority Executive Director, and a memo she wrote that said that the charter school would stop receiving funding in the summer unless the establishment paid the money back.
“Maintaining operations is defined as paying all liabilities and obligations for Eagle’s daily operations on time and without delinquent payment,” Mackedon said.
Two Eagle Charter School board members said they weren’t aware of the financial issues, according to Mackedon.
“As of now, we do have a plan in place to get the NDE repaid,” Graciano said.
Some state board members were critical of the response.
“I’m asking why […] your accountant is telling us that you kept track of the overpayments — why wasn’t the entirety of the overpayments not set aside so that NDE could be repaid,” Thigpen asked. “Where did that money go?”
Mackedon said she attempted to address Eagle Charter School’s school board last month during a public comment period but was denied. The State Public Charter School Authority is scheduled to meet in May. The hope is that a plan for Eagle Charter School to return taxpayer funds will be in place by then.
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