Dec 7, 2007 7:18 pm US/Eastern
Charter School Under Fire For Exotic Teacher Trips
Did Public Pay For Staff Vacations To The Caribbean?
BRONX (CBS) ―
Questions are surfacing about the actions of a charter school in the Bronx.
Dozens of teachers and staffers have been sunning at hotels in the Caribbean. But who is paying for this?
The Radisson Cable Beach in Nassau is an idyllic get-away, with three pools, a golf course and a 24-hour casino.
But why is a charter school in the Bronx paying dozens of teachers and supervisors to relax there?
"It's a time for the staff to plan, both reflect on the year that passed and plan for the coming year," Kipp Academy superintendent David Levin said.
But state comptroller Tom DiNapoli isn't so sure. He's released an audit slamming the school for sending 49 employees to the resort last year, and 21 employees to the Dominican Republic the year before.
The academy claims these were staff retreats, but some parents are puzzled.
"The kids in the eighth grade, they take exams to get them ready for high school," said parent Michelle Manon. "A lot of them aren't ready for that. The money can go towards that."
Charter schools are funded by taxpayers, but the school chief claims the public didn't pay for the trips.
"There were no public funds spent for these purposes, and only private dollars that were allocated were spent for these purposes," Levin said.
However, state auditors said:
"...we could not determine whether the trips were, in fact, paid for with donated funds."
They added: "It is unclear why staff would need to go out of the country to have informal conversations."
That's a question that's occurred to some students.
"We have a bad neighborhood and it doesn't seem right for the teachers to go off to the Caribbean when we don't even live in a nice environment," eighth-grader Christelle Manon said.
While the school has rejected the most serious charges, it has agreed to tighten up its bookkeeping. The comptroller says he's watching closely.
The audit says the school has spent nearly $70,000 on the Caribbean outings in the last two years.
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