NC panel to consider closing Raleigh charter school for noncompliance

The North Carolina State Board of Education has deferred a decision as to whether to close a Raleigh charter school to a lower oversight board.

The State Board of Education found Torchlight Academy to be in noncompliance during a review this week but voted Thursday to ask the Charter Schools Advisory Board to decide whether closing the school would be appropriate. The State Board of Education would then vote whether to accept the advisory panel’s decision. The advisory board meets next week.

But the State Board of Education did vote Thursday to close another charter school — Three Rivers Academy in Bertie County — run by the same group, Torchlight Academy Schools LLC.

Any decision on Torchlight Academy would be based on new documents received Wednesday morning that the state board says show the school is continuing not to comply with federal special education laws, as well as other laws.

Specifically, the board has asked the advisory panel to review:

• Potential misuse of federal and state funds, including grant funds
• Governance concerns, including a lack of oversight
• Potential conflicts of interest by its principal and executive director — Cynthia and Donnie McQueen. Specifically, whether their actions on behalf of or in lieu of board of directors or management organization have benefitted them personally
• To make a recommendation on whether Torchlight Academy’s charter should be revoked

The State Board of Education approved a 10-year charter for Torchlight Academy in 2014, under somewhat different charter school policies and state laws than exist today. For that reason, the board declined to vote on revoking the charter Thursday, said Amy White, chairwoman of the Education Innovation and Charter Schools committee of the board.

“It is with a heavy heart,” White began when announcing the forthcoming vote to close Three Rivers Academy.

White summarized the Charter Schools Advisory Board recommendation to the Board of Education.

The decision, she said, was based on consistently poor academic performance, failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management (the school did not provide financial records and audits as requested), violations of federal law (including special education law) and violations of the school’s charter. The charter violations included a failure to provide information in a timely manner and a lack of school board oversight.

No school board members attended the advisory board’s meeting. Donnie McQueen was able to get one member on the phone by the end of the meeting, but the school board member said they were unaware the school had faced any compliance issues.

The school had perennially been given “F” grades for performance by the state.

Earlier:

State officials are mulling the fate of a Raleigh charter school, after nearly two years of concerns over whether the school is properly providing special education services.

The North Carolina State Board of Education has already said Torchlight Academy is exhibiting the highest level of noncompliance with special education law.

The school had until 9 a.m. Wednesday to provide documents to the state showing efforts to comply with special education laws and state requests.

At Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting, Amy White said the board would discuss the documents in closed session Wednesday afternoon. White is the chairwoman of the board’ Education Innovation and Charter Schools Committee.

On Thursday, the board will decide whether to give Torchlight Academy another chance or to potentially terminate the school’s charter.

The board will also consider terminating the charter of a school in Bertie County operated by the same principal and executive director — Cynthia and Donnie McQueen. In that case, the state’s Charter School Advisory Board found the school had virtually no oversight from its board despite long-standing noncompliance issues.

Torchlight Academy opened in 1999 and enrolls about 600 kindergarten through eighth grade students.

Its elementary school sits just outside of the I-440 belt line, off of Atlantic Avenue on Bramer Drive. Its middle school is farther southeast, off of Old Poole Road.

The school has a far lower than average proportion of students receiving special education services.

The state has accused the school of negligence, failing to properly create and update students’ individualized education programs, falsifying records and having unqualified staff.

School leaders have responded by saying they have new leadership over the exceptional children division, have provided records and have tried to update records but have been locked out of a state records system to access them.