KANSAS CITY (AP) - Missouri audits released this week claim two Kansas City charter schools botched their closures by overspending and poor bookkeeping.
Imagine Renaissance Academy and Urban Community Leadership Academy failed to properly plan for the 2012 closures of their schools, according to reports from Auditor Tom Schweich's office. A 2012 state law now requires that schools include a closing plan in their application for a charter.
Schweich's office alleges the Urban Community Leadership Academy did not provide records for almost $118,000 in closing expenses, even after the auditor issued a subpoena for them.
The school board president and board member Kendra Kemp-Trammel did not return calls.
"We rarely resort to subpoenas, and even then we still can't find the documentation," Schweich said in an interview with the newspaper. "All we can say is that we don't know where (the $117,980) went."
The state also found that the school's business manager signed 11 checks to herself worth more than $8,400. A board member also made cash withdrawals to buy more than $55,000 worth of cashier's checks, according to the audit.
There was no documentation of the expenses.
Another audit released Tuesday says Imagine Renaissance Academy wasted thousands of dollars by doling out too many closing responsibilities to its law firm without reviewing less-expensive options.
The school paid its law firm $194,000 to help with the closure, including $1,460 for organizing a holiday party for employees.