Funds recovered from the prosecution of a charter school fraud scheme that took millions in public school money will be provided to the San Diego County Office of Education to support K-12 students countywide, it was announced Friday.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office is providing $25 million to implement the SDCOE HeartSpire initiative, a seven-year plan to expand student and family access to mental health, safety, wellness, and educational resources.
The funds are being provided following recent San Diego County Board of Supervisors approval.
The money stems from fines imposed in a criminal case regarding a series of “A3 charter schools” in San Diego County and elsewhere across the state, which collected state funds by alleging students were enrolled in programs run by the schools.
The District Attorney’s Office, which called the case “one of the nation’s largest fraud schemes targeting taxpayer dollars intended for primary education,” said defendants paid for student information and used the info to enroll children in summer school programs at their online campuses. Prosecutors say some parents were unaware their children were enrolled in a charter school at all.
The schools earned as much as $4,000 per student despite not providing full educational services, with the defendants transferring millions of those funds to private companies they owned, according to the DA’s Office.
Along with sentences against 11 people involved in the scheme, more than $280 million in stolen funds were recovered, and a portion of the fines imposed in the case were earmarked for programs such as HeartSpire, “that directly serve the needs of kindergarten through 12th grade students in San Diego County,” the D.A.’s Office said.
“This funding will make a real difference in the lives of K-12 students and their families as they navigate wellness, safety, homelessness, and mental health challenges,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said.
“I continue to be very proud of our public corruption/consumer protection expert prosecution team that delivered justice in the A3 Charter Schools criminal case, and now, we’re seeing how the trust fund established as a result of the case is impacting the community in positive ways, funneling the money stolen by the defendants back to deserving young people in our schools.”
Along with this week’s announcement, funds recovered from the case led to 47 K-12 community grants totaling around $6.4 million, which were awarded in 2022 to support literacy, tutoring, mentoring, youth leadership, and mental health and wellness services, the D.A.’s Office said.
Dr. Gloria E. Ciriza, San Diego County superintendent of schools, said, “We are grateful the DA has entrusted SDCOE with this opportunity to build upon our efforts to positively impact students, families, and communities throughout the county. HeartSpire is rooted in the belief that human connection, mental health, and relational infrastructure are essential to thriving educational systems. Accordingly, this grant will align the DA’s Office, schools, County Health and Human Services, and community-based organizations to offer integrated services that make a real difference for students and families.”
–City News Service
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