It looks like this Baladullah Charter School is up against the ropes, and about to collapse.
And, it is good to hear that the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies are really checking this place out.
About a month ago, a reporter doing research for 60 Minutes contacted me. She thought that I might have some "inside" information. She said they were going to do a story on the Al Fuqra organization, and there various compounds across the USA, and their terrorist connections. I am not aware if they have actually ran that story yet or not, since I never watch that show.
GateWay charter revoked Fresno Unified trustees rebuff pleas from crowd.
By eolvera, Cyndee Fontana
The Fresno Bee
(Published Thursday, January, 17, 2002 4:55AM)
Despite impassioned pleas from parents, students and staff, Fresno Unified School District trustees late Wednesday unanimously voted to close the GateWay Academy charter school because of financial and other problems.
During a packed session that spanned nearly four hours and featured an arrest for unruly behavior, the district's board rebuffed GateWay's request for a 30-day reprieve.
Instead, several trustees said they didn't think GateWay, the state's fastest-growing charter, could reach financial stability.
While the vote was emphatic, far less clear is what will happen next.
GateWay lawyer Akil K. Secret said after the decision that he believes the district is required to submit the dispute to arbitration.
Failing that, Secret said: "Almost certainly we will seek redress in the courts."
Secret also did not know whether GateWay's 11 school sites would be open today. He said the system might be able to hold classes as long as it doesn't use public money.
With tears in her eyes, Osunji Russell said she did not know whether she would take daughter Ayasha Hunley to school this morning. Ayasha, a 5-year-old kindergarten student at GateWay's Dakota Learning Center in Fresno, earlier told trustees that she loved going to school.
Other parents also were upset. Marie Davis couldn't believe the board voted out the charter school she says helped build both her son's self-esteem and his grades. She fears funneling Marshall, a freshman at the Dakota Learning Center, back into a traditional public setting where he may get lost.
"I don't think mainstream school will help him -- in fact, I'm certain of it," Davis said.
Wednesday's meeting brought together most sides of a controversy that has raged for months across the state. GateWay documents show that it is roughly $1.3 million in debt, and a 3-inch-thick district compliance report alleged that the charter school operated in buildings without fire inspections, hired employees without required background checks, submitted questionable attendance records and failed to complete an itemized financial report.
Last month, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin threatened to cut off funding if GateWay couldn't answer allegations that some satellite sites taught religion, charged tuition, or were converted from private schools. She asked Fresno Unified, which granted the GateWay charter, to investigate those and other concerns.
Wednesday, district officials told the governing board that they had received only partial cooperation from GateWay. A major red flag was the lack of an independent financial audit given the school's $1.3 million debt.
GateWay officials were backed by supporters who spilled out into the hallways of the meeting chamber. Some came on buses from Adelanto in San Bernardino County, one of GateWay's satellite sites.
One proponent, Norm Pimentel, was arrested by Fresno police after he ran out of time during public comment period and refused to leave the podium.
More than a dozen speakers, including parents and students, praised the GateWay educational process and pleaded for the school to remain open. GateWay representatives also asked for 30 days to fix problems, saying that they had answered most district complaints in documents submitted Wednesday.
They said most problems had been cleared up or addressed. For example, employees who lacked background checks were placed on administrative leave. They volunteered to close the five sites they said had not yet passed fire safety inspections.
Board Member Bill Riddlesprigger offered a motion that would have put off revocation, but no other trustees were interested in that. Riddlesprigger ultimately agreed to revoke the charter. Voting with the prevailing side would allow him to bring back the issue for reconsideration, he said.
Under the board decision, in part GateWay officials must immediately notify parents of the closure, turn over assets, stop any spending and hand over records.
GateWay opened with three sites and about 250 students in September 2000. By November 2001, GateWay had grown to about 1,000 students in 14 sites between Sunnyvale and Pomona.
Most recently, it had more than 500 students at 11 sites. Fresno Unified officials say they had problems tracking sites because they popped up in far-away cities.
The GateWay charter began to unravel last September, shortly after its leaders went to Fresno Unified asking for assistance completing loan documents. GateWay officials said they needed a $630,000 loan from an investment firm that already had lent them $900,000.
District officials refused to sign off on the second loan and asked for information about 2000-01 spending. Documents submitted by GateWay showed a $1.3 million debt, which sparked concern by Fresno Unified officials.
The district requested a more detailed financial audit -- setting deadlines for GateWay that it failed to meet.
Based on the 3-inch compliance packet, Fresno Unified officials recommended revoking the GateWay charter.
Superintendent Khadijah Ghafur said GateWay's need for loans resulted from its fast growth. Officials also deny the district's allegations of potential financial mismanagement or impropriety, saying much of the problem is the state funding model that pays out only after the service has been delivered.
GateWay officials have suggested that the intense scrutiny is born of fears and rumors about Muslims following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One of GateWay's campuses is within a Muslim community, known as Baladullah, in the Tulare County foothills about 60 miles east of Fresno.
That community was thrust into the spotlight when Fresno County sheriff's deputy Erik Telen was shot and killed last August, allegedly by a man who stayed briefly at Baladullah.
The reporters can be reached at eolvera@fresnobee.com, cfontana@fresnobee.com or 441-6330.