Charter school board fires director, grapples with deficit

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 31, 2007 10:50 PM PST ∞

TEMECULA ---- As the largest charter school serving Southwest Riverside and North San Diego counties continues its split into two autonomous entities, the board overseeing half its operations fired the school's longtime executive director after a five-hour meeting Tuesday night.

Citing several contentions, including misappropriation of money and conflicts of interest, the board overseeing the Vista-based coastal operation of Eagles Peak Charter School terminated the employment of Kathleen Hermsmeyer, who has been on administrative leave from the coastal division since November.

Hermsmeyer remains director of Eagles Peak Charter School Inland Empire. She did not return phone calls Wednesday.

The decision to fire her came as coastal board members said they are grappling with a projected deficit of $2.4 million for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The board members said they largely blamed Hermsmeyer for much of the debt, contending the school has been mismanaged.

The four-member board Tuesday also delayed a discussion on how to resolve the projected shortfall. They then voted 4-0 to suspend their $100 stipend for each meeting, form a subcommittee of coastal Eagles Peak academic program directors to review the budget and make suggestions, and asked school officials to find ways to reduce administrative costs by about 40 percent.

The votes came after three teachers resigned, citing concern over the school's direction and what they contended was the board's misguided agenda. Several parents also pleaded with the board that certain academic programs run at the Temecula campus should be spared. Several parents shed tears over the school's Montessori program, saying their children needed it.

About half of Eagles Peak's students are home-schooled, and the others are enrolled in various academic programs the school offers, ones that often include a mix of home-schooling and time spent at one of the campuses, dubbed learning centers, under the direction of teachers.

The coastal organization operates several learning centers, including ones in Vista, Chula Vista and Temecula. The Inland Empire faction operates centers in Riverside and Indio. They continue to share learning centers in Wildomar and Hemet as they work to divide their operations.

Each organization has a separate charter and roughly 2,000 students. The coastal school is chartered through the Julian Union High School District and the inland school is chartered by the Riverside County Office of Education. They are public schools and do not charge tuition.

On Tuesday, the coastal board members cited 15 reasons why they believed they should terminate Hermsmeyer. One big reason cited was that she did not have the authority to create the Inland Empire school and never received approval from the coastal board to start that process.

Over the last several years, Eagles Peak Charter School has seen rapid growth in Riverside County, and because it had more students in that county than San Diego County, it was compelled by law to seek a charter in Riverside County in 2005.

In September 2005, the Riverside County Office of Education agreed to charter the school.

Coastal board President Danielle Hooper, who was appointed in December 2005, said minutes of previous board meetings throughout 2005 don't indicate official permission was granted by the board for Hermsmeyer to seek the second charter. Permission was required as part of the deal with the Riverside County Office of Education, Hooper said.

An official who asked to remain anonymous said Wednesday that the board in 2005 was fairly inactive and took minutes "loosely," but was aware and did approve of Hermsmeyer's actions.

With that, the source said, the school was officially split whether the coastal board likes it or not.

Other reasons cited for Hermsmeyer's firing included her alleged decisions to:

- Allow a top administrator to earn $64,500 on loans the school took out without board approval.

- Lease a $43,000 sport utility vehicle, albeit partly for school use, an action the board called needlessly excessive.

- Lease a beachfront condominium in Oceanside for two top administrators to supposedly attract quality employees, an action the board called "tantamount to a gift of public funds."

- Give a "substantial pay raise" to employees last year without board approval and despite the school's negative operating balance at the time of $655,000, raises the coastal board contends benefited Hermsmeyer as well as her husband and sister, who were also employees.

- Work as a teacher while also working as executive director, and collecting two salaries, "constituting a self-dealing transaction and a violation of the Political Reform Act."

Hooper, in an interview Wednesday, said the board members felt they had to do something about the aforementioned allegations and that they are sincere in their efforts and motivation. She said she wants Eagles Peak Inland Empire to remain solvent and be successful despite the current turmoil.

The sentiment mirrors that of Inland Empire board President Robin Mammoth, who said Wednesday that Inland Empire's operations are flourishing and the board wants to move forward.

"Eagles Peak isn't the first charter school that has had difficult times," Mammoth said. "There are other charters throughout the nation that have made mistakes. We would like to be able to work toward educating the kids and get the corporate stuff past us."

The Inland Empire board has agreed to pay back the coastal operation $3.4 million, she said.

Several coastal academic program directors at Tuesday's board meeting urged their coastal board members to accept the offer, which they believe comes with a quid pro quo: that the coastal board drops its consideration of suing the Inland Empire operations.

The directors said they believe accepting the offer means the Eagles Peak coastal division would no longer face a financial crunch. It remains to be seen whether the coastal board will accept the offer.

-- Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

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