Charter lifeline
$300,000 lifeline from HISD keeping it open 2 more months
Following the closure of HISD’s charter school Victory Prep North after running out of money, officials vote to keep its sister campus open for the rest of the year.
Less than two months after Houston ISD charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closed after running out of money, the district’s board of trustees voted to spend $300,000 to keep its sister campus open for the remainder of this school year.
The lifeline to the charter school, founded by embattled megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, will keep 235 high school students from having to find a new campus with only two months left in the school year.
Officials with the Victory Preparatory Academy South told Houston ISD last Thursday that the school had run out of money and would have to close unless the district could pay to keep it afloat. As part of the deal approved by HISD trustees Monday, the school will close permanently over the summer and the district will conduct a financial audit of the campus and its sister school, Victory Preparatory Academy North, which closed in February due to financial issues.
The announcement came as a shock to Victory Prep South Principal Winston Steele, who said he learned only Thursday that the school would close.
“I have no news to give you about financials — that was centrally controlled at the north campus through a finance director,” Steele said Tuesday. “At our campus, if I had any needs at our campus, I would fill out a form, a materials request form, and send it to the finance office.”
At the time of the north campus’ closing, the charter network’s executive director, the Rev. Lisa Berry-Dockery, said the school lost money after dozens of students left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Berry-
Dockery is listed as a pastor for Windsor Village United Methodist Church, where Caldwell is the senior pastor.
Caldwell was listed as vice president of the charter school network’s board as recently as 2014 and still is listed as vice president on the Victory Prep schools’ shared website.
Windsor Village Church’s website says Caldwell founded the Victory Prep Schools.
Last Thursday, Caldwell and a Louisiana-based financial planner were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors accused Caldwell of using his position with the church to persuade investors to spend $3.5 million on historic Chinese bonds that are not recognized by the Chinese government.
The indictment said that a $25,000 wire transfer was sent from the operating account of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church to one of the duped investors after Caldwell promised a refund. The indictment does not mention the charter school.
Caldwell has denied any wrongdoing, and messages left with his attorney were not returned Tuesday. Officials with Windsor Village United Methodist Church also did not respond to a voice message.
The two Victory Prep schools Caldwell founded were ordered shut down by the Texas Education Agency in 2016, after failing to meet the state’s academic standards for three years in a row. Instead of allowing the remaining two schools to close, Houston ISD’s board of trustees stepped in and offered them a lifeline.
The board brought the Victory Prep schools and its charter network, Management Accountability Company, into the district as in-district charter schools.
In-district charter schools differ from state charter schools in that they are at least somewhat accountable to the local public school district. Funds for the schools flow from the state through HISD, which takes a small cut, and into the charter school network, which paid the salaries of employees at both schools.
As part of their contract, the Management Accountability Company had to turn in an audit of its finances every year. Mark Smith, HISD’s chief student support officer, said other than that, there is little oversight of how HISD’s 13 other in-district charter schools operate.
“We do not have a routine monitoring system for charters, because they’re expected to monitor themselves,” Smith said. “Everything they do is in their own purview. They have their own staff, methods for purchasing items.”
That frustrated some HISD trustees, who said they should not have to bail out a charter school while the district is facing a $115 million budget deficit of its own.
“I’m very surprised that, in this year, we haven’t figured out checkpoints to monitor the financial insolvency,” said Trustee Sergio Lira. “We have to make sure we don’t close schools at the last moment.”
Steele, Victory Prep South’s principal, said he was equally surprised by the news, especially after central administrators offered him assurances after the Victory Prep North campus closed in February.
“We were concerned, but we were told make sure the kids are here at school. That’s the main thing, because the budget ran by the average daily attendance of students,” Steele said. “All I was focused on was to make sure kids were ready for graduation and end-of-course exams.”
That was of little consolation to 15-year-old Jacqueline Cruz, who learned through teachers on Thursday that the school would close.
She and her mother, Faviola, chose the campus out of concern that her zoned school, Madison High, is too large. Neither daughter or mother had heard of Victory Prep South’s financial issues until a reporter told them Tuesday.
Faviola Cruz said she plans to attend a meeting at the school on Monday, where administrators will discuss next steps for students.
Jacqueline, however, does not want to leave.
“I like it here because it’s not as crowded as other schools,” she said. “Next year is going to be difficult. I don’t talk very much, but here I’ve made a few good friends.”