A Charter School Cheats, A School District Sleeps

“Existing law prohibits a pupil enrolled in school from being required to pay a fee, deposit, or other charge not specifically authorized by law.”

- California AB 1575

The North Valley Military Institute (NVMI) is no stranger to the LAUSD’s Charter School Division (CSD). Just last November, the CSD recommended to the District’s Board that they should not renew the school’s charter. During the spring oversight visit, they failed the school in each of the four categories that they inspect, including an “unsatisfactory” rating for fiscal operations. Despite all of these red flags, the District still overlooked the fact that the school was “charging illegal summer school fees and unfairly compensating some students who have been working at the school because they could not afford them”.

According to NVMI’s website, 236 of its 670 students (35%) were notified that they “must attend summer school.” If they chose to fulfill this requirement at NVMI, then the cost was listed as “$50 per middle school class and $100 per high school class. The Robotics class costs $150.” Students or their parents could “work for the cost of summer school instead of paying cash. Students earn $5 per hour and parent earn $10 per…