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Cuts, closings and cooked books jolt district
© St. Petersburg Times Charter schools dominated education news in Pasco County during 2002, from the opening of four new schools, to the abrupt closure of another. And, of course, there was that embezzlement scandal at Deerwood Academy charter. Budget cuts, ballooning enrollments at Pasco-Hernando Community College and the conclusion of a flap over Harry Potter also made headlines during the past year. But the big news, by far, was charters. It started in late July, when a new school for the arts abruptly closed, just weeks before 210 students were to start classes. The Infinity School for the Performing Arts ran into money trouble when it discovered needed renovations to its building would cost $500,000. Rather than scramble for an alternate site, school backers decided to delay its opening for a year. That left families searching for new schools just weeks before the year's opening bell. Infinity teachers also had to hunt for new jobs on short notice. Summer school programs for Pasco students took a hit in 2002. State budget cuts forced programs to be cut back so much that district officials stopped calling the summer classes "summer school." Instead, they called them "extended school year services." The program ran for 10 days in late June, and consisted of a mere 31/2-hour school day. The cuts were necessary as the state dealt with a budget shortfall. The Legislature had met in December and cut $500-million from the state's education budget. Pasco's share totaled $6.4-million. Administrative jobs were also cut to help make up the shortfall. In February, a district panel approved the popular Harry Potter books for use in Pasco classrooms. The books about a child wizard had been challenged in 2001 by a parent of a Mitchell High School student. Bill Niland contended that the books promote the Wiccan religion and therefore violate the separation of church and state. Niland did not ask that the Potter series be banned from school or removed from libraries. He just didn't want teachers to use them in class. After the committee ruled against him, Niland said he would take the district to court. He hasn't followed through with the threat, however. PHCC grew during 2002 to become bigger than at any time in its 30-year history. There are more students, taking more classes. Enrollment was up 34.7 percent from the previous August, and was up 29 percent from the end of the previous academic year. College officials struggled to deal with the growth because state budget cuts prevented the college from hiring more professors to teach the influx of students. The total number of students -- part and full time -- was 6,333. PHCC and the school district teamed up this past year to offer more college-level classes to high school students. The program was to help the district alleviate crowding at its nine high schools, while simultaneously giving advanced students the chance to earn college credit. More than 160 students enrolled. In March, a popular and longtime principal was suspended and accused of sexual harassment by an employee. Woodland Elementary principal Randall Belcher never was charged with a crime, but the allegation led to his transfer to a central office job. A second allegation from another employee later emerged, but again no criminal charges were filed. State attorney investigators said they found no evidence to support the allegations. Belcher's new job in the transportation department actually ended up saving the district some money. He conducted a study of the district's busing reimbursements and found $290,000 in uncollected funds. The biggest story out of the district in 2002, however, was the financial mess at Deerwood Academy. A Times investigation uncovered fraud at the school and estimated about $96,000 in taxpayer money could not be accounted for. Seven Deerwood employees lost their jobs, including Hank Johnson, the school's founder and director. The school district seized control of the school, installed a new principal and still is trying to reconstruct the school's ledgers. The state attorney also is investigating. The scam was simple: At least two school employees created phony companies that submitted bogus invoices, which the school paid. Employees also were padding legitimate receipts with inflated costs before seeking reimbursement for the expenses from Deerwood. School officials and law enforcement authorities suspect a Port Richey man was at the center of the fraud. Jeff Alcantara worked at the school for several months, and his teenage daughter was Deerwood's bookkeeper. Alcantara is a felon with a long history of theft and credit card scams. The Times investigation found that he was involved in nearly all of the bogus transactions. -- 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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