Charter school company hired felon on probation. He stole $202, 837.

[madfloridian]

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Charter-school-theft-alleged-4225008.php#ixzz2JFBfRL8c">Brighter Choice finance officer, with felony history, charged with embezzlement

Can you imagine a school management company hiring a financial officer with a recent history of bank theft?

Maybe these schools do need some oversight.


The Brighter Choice Charter Middle Schools in Albany Friday Jan. 25, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

ALBANY — The former chief financial officer for the Brighter Choice Foundation, which provides funding and support to 10 public charter schools in Albany, has been charged with embezzling $202,837 from the organization.

The arrest Wednesday of Ronald A. Racela marks the second time in four years that Racela has been charged with grand larceny. Two years ago, Racela admitted stealing $53,931 from KeyBank in Albany, where he was employed as a manager in the Community Development Lending Group, court records show.

..."M. Christian Bender, executive director of Brighter Choice Foundation, said Brighter Choice officials were not aware of Racela's criminal history when he was hired as financial director of Brighter Choice Charter Schools in June 2010. Bender said Racela described his separation from KeyBank as "tense" but did not disclose he had been arrested for embezzlement eight months before he was hired by Brighter Choice.

"I knew that it had not been a smooth separation, but obviously I had no idea that it involved criminal activity on his part," Bender said Friday.

He did not know? I am sorry, but that is inexcusable. I don't know about other states, but in Florida to even walk into a classroom or work as an aide on campus a person is fingerprinted.

Racela is still on probation from his bank theft.

The district is required to pay the charter school $14,000 of public money for each student sent their way from the public school system.

They are not handling that money responsibly. That angers me.

Crossposted at DU3

[Enthusiast]

1. I'm with you, madfloridian. That is inexcusable!...........nt

[formercia]

2. Just think how much Money they were saving

by not having to do background checks.

[No Elephants]

3. A friend was manager of personnal at a private junior college.

One day, she called in a panic, telling me she was about to be fired.

She explained that she had just fired a buddy of the dean because, on checking his references, she found that he had molested students in his prior post. She had tried to tell a higher up but no one was around.

Thing is, she was not in charge of faculty hiring and firings, only non-faculty. And she had not been given his references to check until after he began teaching. At that, she was told it was a formality, not a priority. A lesser employee might have let it go altogether. But not my friend.

I asked her first what reason she had given him. Because, sometimes, a firing is not a problem but someone says the wrong thing while firing and that becomes a problem. She said she had given no reason, nor did he ask. She felt that, as soon as she told him he should pack up and leave, he knew exactly why.

I told her that her boss would be grateful. If he wasn't right off the bat, though, she was to tell him that, having received the info, the college could absolutely not risk the liability and therefore the molester had to be fired immediately.

I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes, it's the crony system. Sometimes, it's sheer stupidity or laziness or carelessness, I guess, but sometimes people get hired because someone is a buddy. And because the hire is a buddy of someoe, people assume the hire is trustworthy.

[Enthusiast]

4. The cronie system can indeed be dangerous.

Look how it worked out for them at Penn State.

[No Elephants]

5. Excellent point.l