State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced June 23 that the California Department of Education has contracted with the State Controller’s Office to conduct an audit of California Virtual Academies and related charter schools because of serious questions raised about a number of their practices.
“The goal of the audit is to make sure these schools are spending public education funds properly and serving their students well,” said Torlakson.
Torlakson noted that under the terms of the audit, the State Controller’s office will conduct a review of CAVA and related charter schools to verify whether these nonprofit schools:
·Are organizationally separate from K-12, Inc. a for-profit company that these nonprofit charter schools contract with;
·Accurately reported attendance, enrollment, and dropout graduation rates to the California Department of Education;
·Appropriately allocated and reported shared expenses;
·Appropriately identified, accounted for, and disclosed related-party relationships.
The audit is expected to be complete by March 2017.
