Ka‘u Learning Academy’s first year of operations was “very challenging” for the school and the state’s Public Charter School Commission, staff monitoring the school’s operations and finances said this week.
At least two employees at the Naalehu-based public charter school briefly lost health care coverage this past year — despite continued deductions from their paycheck — because the school either missed deadlines or improperly processed payroll and employee benefits. The school also did not properly pay or withhold union dues.
“Staff strongly recommends the school hire an accountant or someone who has strong accounting and payroll experience to ensure these business processes occur as required and expected,” according to a financial update submitted to the commission. “For these situations to come to light this late in the school year is discomforting.”
The school also struggled to submit monthly financial reports on time, at least one of which it blamed on a commission-issued template containing “many inconsistencies,” “random dates” and other errors.
“I’m guessing that the Charter Commission is suffering from the same understaffing as our schools, and, as such, they were unable to update the worksheet or restructure it in a way that would ensure a timely, consistent and accurate response from the schools,” Ka‘u’s board President Mark Fournier said in an email to the commission, adding the school is already investing “every available resource” and there wasn’t enough “time in the day to compensate for errors in the worksheet.”
Leila Shar, the commission’s financial performance manager, said the forms alleged to be full of errors were “very similar” to those required as part of the application for new charter schools.
The commission multiple times offered to help the school iron out kinks, but the offers largely weren’t utilized, Shar said.
The school was asked to submit a corrective plan to resolve issues by May 27 but never did. As a result, the commission will issue a “notice of deficiency” to Ka‘u Learning Academy and continue monitoring its finances.
On Thursday, the school’s managing
director, Joe Iacuzzo, told the commission the payroll and processing problems were largely resolved.
He said the school plans to be more organized next year and also plans to address other problems, such as setting up a voice message system on its phone.
“As you all know, this was our first foray into administration of a school, and we had a really steep learning curve despite experience we have had in the past,” Iacuzzo said.
Efforts to reach Ka‘u Learning Academy administrators directly Thursday were not successful.
The school opened last July to grades 3-6, according to its website. It primarily serves students in Ka‘u including Naalehu, Ocean View and Pahala.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
