Raleigh charter school accused of misusing funds and conflict of interest violations
The leaders of a Raleigh charter school are denying accusations of misuse of taxpayer funds that could result in their school being shut down by the state.
The State Board of Education voted Thursday to conduct a further investigation into Torchlight Academy in Raleigh over allegations of misusing funds for personal gain and benefit. The state board also voted to revoke the charter for Three Rivers Academy in Bertie County, which is managed by the same person who manages Torchlight.
“It is with a heavy heart that I bring forward the recommendation,” state board member Amy White, who chairs the committee that oversees charter schools, said Thursday.
The charges were denied by Stephon Bowens, the attorney representing both schools. He questioned why the state was targeting the only African-American led education management organization in North Carolina.
“It is both scurrilous and/or inappropriate for the state board, or any member of the state board, to make allegations without having a full formal hearing or having all of the evidence,” Bowens said in an interview Thursday.
Don McQueen is the executive director of Torchlight Academy Schools, which manages Torchlight in Raleigh. He’s also executive director of Global Education Resources, which manages Three Rivers.
His wife, Cynthia McQueen, is principal at the Raleigh charter school, which serves 600 mostly minority and low-income elementary and middle school students. Torchlight opened in 1999 and is one of North Carolina’s oldest charter schools.
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules traditional public schools must follow.
Allegations of misuse of funds
Last month, the state board voted to sanction the Raleigh charter school and gave school leaders until Wednesday to fix a list of problems in its special-education program. White said the problems haven’t been fixed, leading the state board to vote Thursday to ask the Charter Schools Advisory Board to investigate:
▪ Possible misuse or misappropriation for personal use of federal and state funds, including grant funds.
▪ Governance concerns, specifically regarding potential lack of oversight by the board of directors over the use of funds and provision of services to students.
▪ Potential conflicts of interests by Don McQueen and Cynthia McQueen, acting both on behalf of or in lieu of Torchlight’s board and the management company, “in ways that benefited them personally.”
During the investigation, the state will freeze federal funds given to schools managed by Don McQueen. Those schools will continue to get state funds monthly.
Racial bias in state actions raised
Bowens said Torchlight recognized that there were problems with the special-education program and has been addressing them. He said there’s a difference between miscoding funds in a computer system and saying the money was misused.
In particular, Bowens said his clients were surprised at the charges of personal misconduct that he said border on defamation. He said the state is rushing to judgment and treating Torchlight harsher than other charter schools or traditional public schools that have had special-education deficiencies.
“We are here, and we’re saying we’re open to working with the state to resolve issues where hey are,” Bowens said. “But the actions that have been taken appear on their face to be differential.
“The only difference we can see is the color of their skin and the size of their education management company.”
The school’s long history of serving a mostly Black and Hispanic student population of limited means is being overlooked by the state, according to Bowens.
“Torchlight has a tremendous history of providing a good quality education to students in North Carolina,” he said.
Possible double charter closure
The Charter Schools Advisory Board is expected to review Torchlight’s case at its meeting next week. The state board wants a recommendation on whether to revoke Torchlight’s charter or to take other action against the school.
The advisory board had previously recommended revoking Three Rivers Academy’s charter. The state board cited failure to meet standards of student performance, failure to meet standards of fiscal management and violations of federal and state law on Thursday for revoking the charter.
In 2018, the state board stripped the charter from Heritage Collegiate Leadership Academy and gave it to McQueen’s company, which renamed the school as Three Rivers Academy. Bowens said Three Rivers has been saddled dealing with the problems left behind by the former operators of the school.
Bowens said that his clients expect to appeal the charter revocation.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Raleigh charter school accused of misusing funds and conflict of interest violations."
