In long-awaited results of a 1½-year investigation, California’s finance and education chiefs have issued a critical audit of the online charter school chain California Virtual Academies, finding several contractual violations and irregularities and imposing a nearly $2 million fine.
The report ordered the charter firm to provide documentation around student progress, student-teacher ratios, and excess oversight fees, among other things. It also demanded California Virtual Academies to produce an audited opinion on the accuracy of its average daily attendance—on which California bases payments to public schools—and to pay the state education department almost $2 million for improperly handled funds.
School officials disputed some findings and said the academies would appeal.
The organization enrolls 15,000 students in online education operating in 45 of California’s 58 counties.
