Decried by school officials as a “takeover,†Louisiana education leaders on Friday tossed out the board of directors of troubled Impact Charter School in Baker.
The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's decision was unanimous to oust the school board's seven directors. The move also likely means the eventual departure of the school's founder Chakesha Scott.
Scott has run the 400-plus student school, since it opened more than a decade ago north of Baton Rouge. Her management of the school, however, was called into question by the Feb. 10 damning state investigative audit of the school's operations.Â
 accused Scott of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school and a related private foundation to pay for personal travel, a car lease, an in-ground swimming pool at her house and more.
The report also found evidence of a potential kickback scheme with a school contractor and questioned Scott’s decision to divert more than $1.5 million to Friends of Impact Charter School. That's the name of a private philanthropic foundation that Scott also leads. It is supposed to support the 4815 Lavey Lane school financially, but auditors claim it never has.
After the critical audit report was released, an attorney for the Impact charter school issued a 17-page written rebuttal, claiming the audit is “defamatory†and full of inaccuracies. Knowing the state's audit was forthcoming, Scott had sued the state Feb. 7 trying to block state officials from releasing it publicly.Â
Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack said auditors carefully reviewed the school's rebuttal, decided nothing needed to be revised in the audit and included the rebuttal in its entirety at the end of the state report. On Tuesday, ad hoc State District Judge J. Michael McDonald ruled against the school on procedural grounds.
The state's audit of the Impact charter school now is in the hands of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for a potential criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, on Friday after state education board members removed the Impact charter school board, the state board — BESE — selected a slate of seven new directors for the charter school. The new Impact board of directors is expected to oust Scott and hire a new charter management organization to run the school.
State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley said he solicited names from various sources to serve on the charter school's board and selected individuals from the greater Baton Rouge area whom "we believe hold the potential to provide strong governance." The are: Perry Daniel; Marguerite Mack; Mikki Matthews; Pheriche Perkins; Achilles Williams; Torrence Williams; and Willie Williams Jr.
Brumley said charter boards have important financial, contractual and other duties to uphold.
“When any of these core responsibilities are not being met, it is incumbent on BESE as an authorizer to take action and unfortunately that’s why we are here today," Brumley said.
Charter schools are public schools run privately via charters, or contracts.
Friday’s vote was a dramatic reversal of fortune. Just six weeks ago, BESE  through 2031, largely on the strength of the school's B academic letter grade.
 of the state education board was set Wednesday night. Impact school officials responded Thursday, urging parents to pack the Friday meeting. A handful of people showed up and only two, an Impact board member and an administrator, spoke.
In its letter to parents, Impact school leaders accused the state education board of an “unprecedented takeover attempt,†while taking a more forgiving approach to other charter schools faced with controversy.
“If (the state) is allowed to unjustly strip control from a high-performing school, it sets a dangerous precedent that no charter school is safe from political interference,†according to the letter.
Eugene Collins, who has been an Impact board member only for two meetings, struck a conciliatory tone Friday. He described Impact as a "beacon of hope" for the children it serves and any problems it has can be solved by helping, rather than dismantling its current board of directors.
"Why dismantle the board of a school that is succeeding, while so many others are failing?†Collins said.
Ronnie Morris, president of BESE, the state education board, said Impact's board was beyond helping or fixing. He recounted three BESE public records requests for a range of documents from the school over the past two weeks that have been largely ignored.
Morris said the school "failed to meet generally accepted accounting standards of fiscal management" and has repeatedly failed to follow the state's open meetings law.
BESE has a "statutory obligation to students, educators and taxpayers of Louisiana to exercise budgetary and fiscal control over state and federal funds for education programs and services," he said.
is the operating business name of Education Explosion Inc., a nonprofit Scott founded in 2009 along with her husband, Eric Scott, who serves as the school’s principal.
The dissolution, or “reconstitution,†of the board of a charter school, is a new remedy . It stops short of canceling a charter, what’s known as “revocation.†BESE has rarely revoked a school’s charter over the nearly three decades that charter schools have operated in Louisiana.
By contrast, reconstitution allows Impact Charter School to keep its recently renewed charter, albeit under the control of a new board of directors.
