Debt attributed to ex-charter school treasurer grows by $52K
New City’s Carl Shye accused of mishandling public funds.
Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said.
Also named as liable were former school administrators Yolanda Knox and H. Marie Congo, as well as the now-closed George Washington Carver Preparatory Acedemy in Columbus.
Shye was treasurer of New City from July through October 2009. It closed in 2010 after running massive deficits and numerous accounting problems because its sponsor wouldn’t renew.
The school opened in 2004 to provide wrap-around educational resources to children with learning disabilities.
Shye could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Michael Bowler of Akron, declined to comment Thursday.
The auditor’s office referred the audit to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation because the school paid $8,645 to substitute teachers and other employees without paying BWC premiums. Another matter was referred to the Ohio Department of Education because the school failed to provide required reports.
Charter school advocates call Shye a “rogue treasurer” and hope the scale of the charges against him don’t reflect on charters as a whole.
“The vast majority of school treasurers are doing an outstanding job but, when dealing with taxpayer dollars and public trust there is no room for even one bad treasurer,” Ohio Coalition for Quality Education President Ron Adler said.
Shye, of New Albany, could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, in addition to restitution in the amount he’s accused of embezzling. He has signed a plea agreement that includes restitution and paying a civil judgment settling $671,860 in mishandled public funds. In the past 10 years, the state has issued 62 findings for recovery against him totaling over $1 million, some of which has been repaid.
Shye has been treasurer of at least a dozen charter schools across the state. The federal charges stem from allegations at New City, George Washington Carver, Nu Bethel Center of Excellence in Dayton and a school in Youngstown.
Shye was also treasurer of the defunct Colin Powell Academy, Arise Academy and PETE Academy in Dayton, according to Dayton Daily News archives. WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE —
An expansion of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force gained momentum toward launch with a $1 million donation for a fourth hangar gallery at the main complex.
United Technologies Corp. pledged the donation over four years, bringing the $48.7 million project within $10 million of its goal, said Lin Erickson, chief development officer of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organizing the fundraising for the project.
“It’s a big job,” Erickson said, adding, “These are definitely challenging times, particularly in the defense industry, and that’s a big part of our support.”
The donation is the third largest for the project. Lockheed Martin donated $10 million and Boeing Co. contributed $5 million for the privately financed expansion last year, she said.
The foundation has committed $15 million through revenues raised at the museum, such as IMAX movie ticket, cafeteria and museum store sales. Corporate, philanthropic and individual donations will cover the rest of the cost of construction, Erickson said.
The new 224,000-squarefoot addition will house a space gallery with a walk-through and hands-on interactive space shuttle exhibit; a presidential aircraft gallery to house past Air Force One aircraft; and a “global reach” exhibit with tanker aircraft and cargo airlifters. Three mini-amphitheater classrooms will teach science, technology, engineering and math topics to students.
Museum officials hope to start construction next year and open the expansion in 2014. The museum, the oldest aircraft museum in the world, has about 1 million square feet of aircraft on public display, Erickson said. The free exhibit attracts 1.2 million visitors a year to the Miami Valley.
United Technologies jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, which builds the engines that power the F-22 Raptor, has separately donated $200,000, Erickson said.