Braley Dodson Daily Herald 17 hrs ago
The State Charter School Board, part of the Utah State Board of Education, did not take any action on closing a charter school Friday evening after concerns of student safety were brought forward.
The state charter board met to consider taking action on Franklin Discovery Academy in Vineyard, which opened Aug. 22 and teaches about 500 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. However, the board was ultimately unable to act on the matter because it did not issue a notice for the meeting 24 hours in advance.
The board has scheduled a meeting for 7 p.m. Saturday where possible action could be taken, which could include giving the school a warning, putting it on probation, allowing another entity to take over the school or voting to terminate the school.
As of 8:45 p.m. Friday, the state board had not decided if the meeting would occur Saturday night or another day.
According to a recording of the state board’s emergency session held Thursday evening, the board has signi cant concerns about student safety, including hearing that a parent educator was having “an inappropriate relationship and declaring his interest for a fth-grader” and was still employed. In another instance, the state board discussed that a third-grade student was left in an unattended classroom with ve boys that wouldn’t let the student leave until the student was molested.
It was stated at the beginning of the recording that the state board was made aware of the allegations Thursday.
However, those allegations were not completely true, members of both the state and academy boards said Friday.
The employee who was reportedly grooming a student was red, but not until nine days after the allegations came to light.
The school’s director resigned after it was discovered it took nine days to terminate the employee.
The sexual assault incident occurred outside of the school, according to Jennifer Price, the chair of the school’s board of directors. Price said she would have to consult with an attorney before sharing what disciplinary actions were taken with the students.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheri ’s O ce said the department was aware of allegations of misconduct but there was no department investigation at this time. He said school and charter school boards may initiate police involvement when there is a matter that may be criminal in nature.
Ashley Sumner with the state Department of Child and Family Services said she could neither con rm nor deny if there was any investigation involving the school.
At the beginning of the Thursday meeting, it was noted the state board had reason to believe the charter school is falsifying attendance records and that students are unsupervised. The State Charter School Board has had previous concerns about the school’s lack of curriculum and the nancial con ict of interest of one of the school’s board members. The board cited at least six parent complaints in two days, and more complaints regarding lack of curriculum and supervision were previously made.
Price said the school has not falsi ed attendance records, and school was not aware of Thursday’s meeting or given any notice a decision to close it might be made. Price said students are always supervised.
“We will do whatever is necessary to keep the school going and succeeding,” Price told the board.
Price said the complaints were coming from a single disgruntled parent who is stirring up anger with other parents.
The school has a nontraditional educational model where students rotate every 45 minutes. Starting Monday, Price said students will be escorted during rotations by adults.
Rebecca Cisneros, an education specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, said there were early concerns about compliance with the school’s special education program and an investigation was warranted. That investigation took place Thursday.
The investigation team ran into troubles when members tried to nd students and were unable to nd them at where they were scheduled to be. The team asked employees where the students were, and the employees didn’t know where the students were. Of the four students the investigation team tried to nd, three weren’t where they were supposed to be.
“We didn’t know where they were and at least three adults didn’t know where they were,” said Leah Voorhies, a special education coordinator for the Utah State Board of Education. “This type of experience happened all day long.”
The team reported entrances that weren’t monitored, students hiding during transition times and a student left unsupervised in a classroom. They also reported construction that was not barricaded o and students who weren’t being instructed.
One member of the team reported nding a crying student alone inside a locked security room. Concerns were also brought up about a lack of internal nancial controls in regards to segregation of duties.
Braley Dodson
Braley Dodson covers health and education for the Daily Herald.