Charter school's grant put on hold

District officials are withholding the $143,000 until Deerwood Academy explains its sketchy accounting practices.

By KENT FISCHER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 11, 2002

PORT RICHEY -- The Pasco County school district is withholding $143,000 in grant money from Deerwood Academy until the charter school provides an independent audit of its bank accounts for the past fiscal year.

The audit, required by state law, was due Oct. 1, and both school and district officials say they have no idea when -- or if -- the audit will be completed.

Assistant Superintendent Sandy Ramos said Thursday that the school's financial records are in such disarray that auditors are unable to complete their work.

But Principal Hank Johnson said he has turned over to the auditors every receipt and piece of information they have asked for. If the district withholds the grants, Johnson said, the school will be unable to make payroll next month.

"We'll have to max out our credit cards," Johnson replied when asked how he would pay his staff.

The missing audit is the latest in a series of setbacks for the 18-month-old charter school, which enrolls 200 middle school students in classrooms it leases from the Unity Church of Port Richey, 5844 Pine Hill Road. The school will receive more than $850,000 in taxpayer money for operation this academic year.

In February, the School Board denied Deerwood's request to double its enrollment, citing questionable accounting, inadequate background checks on employees and other issues discovered by district administrators.

This week, Johnson's proposal to open a new school in Hernando ran into trouble when district officials examined Deerwood's accounts and found "a serious lack of internal control."

Johnson has scheduled an open meeting for parents on Nov. 1. He wants to clear the air about the audit and other rumblings he has heard from parents, including his hiring of Jeffrey Alcantara, a felon who served time in jail for credit card fraud and writing bad checks.

Criminal ties

Alcantara, 49, of 17035 Hyssop St., Port Richey, worked at the school through July. He submitted a resignation letter effective March 1 after a district records check turned up his felony convictions. Parents contend that Johnson did not inform them of Alcantara's past.

Alcantara's resignation, however, did not end his involvement with the school.

He loaned Johnson $17,669 in late July and early August. Johnson said he used the money to pay teachers, rent and utilities. Alcantara said he came up with the money by selling some family jewelry.

"My son goes to that school," Alcantara told the Times on Thursday. "I was just trying to do some good. I've made some mistakes in my life, and I'm trying to make amends. I feel privileged that I got the opportunity to do something that I feel is significant."

Court records show that Alcantara has not run afoul of the law since 1994, when he was charged with scheming to defraud and grand theft. He is on parole until November 2003, according to FBI records.

School records show that the school has paid Alcantara $16,894 since July for various odd jobs, including clearing brush, installing phone lines and renovating classrooms. That money is in addition to the loan repayments, which ended Aug. 20.

At least four parents pulled their children from the school when they learned of Alcantara's criminal history. Alcantara's son still attends the school. His daughter, Nicole, 19, is employed as an office assistant and once acted as the school's bookkeeper. His ex-wife, Joanne, is the school nurse and treasurer of the nonprofit organization that runs the school. His son-in-law is the gym teacher, and his brother-in-law is the food services director.

Some at the school jokingly refer to the group as the "Alcantara Mafia." One person who doesn't joke about Alcantara, however, is Lutz lawyer Ralph Fisher.

He represents Pasco doctor Frederick Hauber who, in 1992, won a $1.65-million civil judgment against Alcantara for "willful fraud" and "theft," court records show. Alcantara has yet to pay a dime of the restitution, Fisher said.

Alcantara acknowledged that he hasn't repaid the debt, but denied that he defrauded Hauber. The doctor gave him the money willingly, he said, for a stock deal that went bad.

"There were no criminal charges filed," Alcantara said. "I took it on the chin."

Alcantara also said he owes roughly $250,000, not the $1.6-million detailed in court records.

Questionable check

The Pasco County school district, meanwhile, is questioning a $20,747 Deerwood check originally made out to Tampa computer company TBS. But bank records show that the payee on the check was later altered, and when it cleared the bank, the check was made out to cash.

The district reimbursed Deerwood for the $20,747, based on the original TBS check, which was submitted to the district as an invoice.

"I'm not sure something illegal didn't happen there," Long said. "We're going to ask our attorney to look into it, and we're going to refer the matter to the IRS."

Johnson said that the check was sent to TBS, but that the company sent it back, saying it "didn't want to be paid all at once, but wanted it spread out over several months."

To get the money back into the checking account, somebody at the school scribbled "cash" on top of "TBS" and cashed it, Johnson said.

Three weeks later, the money was deposited back into the school's checking account, bank records show.

Why didn't somebody at Deerwood simply rip up the returned check instead of altering it, cashing it and depositing the money?

"I didn't do it, so I don't have a good answer for that," Johnson said.

Hernando County school officials, who are considering Deerwood's charter proposal there, said the episode could signal a serious "misuse of public funds," such as somebody using the school's bank account for personal loans.

Steadfast support

Marilynn DeDea, president of Deerwood's parent group, said she stands behind Johnson, the Alcantaras and the school's teachers "200 percent."

"There are people out there who hate charter schools," she said. "It just hurts when people are accusing you of things, and they have no idea of what's going on."

Johnson said he realizes that some of the school's accounting practices appear sketchy, but says they have been fixed.

He acknowledges making mistakes when it comes to accounting and chalks it up to inexperience in running a business. He said he has learned from the mistakes and is adamant that nothing illegal has taken place.

"The auditors are going nuts because we paid (contractors) in cash because we could get the work done cheaper that way," Johnson said.

"It's something that we should have known better, but didn't. I've done some boneheaded things, but we're educators, not whizzes at business.

"We certainly have not done anything unethical or illegal. They're making us look bad, and we haven't done anything wrong."

-- Staff writer Cary Davis and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Kent Fischer covers education in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. His e-mail address is kfischer@sptimes.com.

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