By Theola Labbé
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The nonprofit managers of the Washington Academy, a District charter school that opened three years ago, do not have enough money to continue operating past February, the D.C. Public Charter School Board said yesterday.

The school, with 254 students in preschool to sixth grade, has unpaid payroll taxes and is running a budget deficit, according to the charter board. The board did not release exact figures but said it discovered financial shortfalls after it reviewed the school's finances last year.

The academy could remain open if another operator takes over.

The charter board voted last month to begin proceedings to revoke the school's charter. Before that process could start, the school decided to give up its charter. The board has scheduled a meeting for Friday at the school's Pennsylvania Avenue location to discuss options with parents and school staff.

"When there are no funds, you cannot run the school," Josephine Baker, executive director of the charter school board, said Monday at the board's monthly meeting.

A message left yesterday at the school for Executive Director Valera Commissiong was not returned.

The actions by the charter board come as the panel adjusts to oversight powers it gained through the mayoral takeover of the schools. The seven-member appointed board assumed oversight of 18 additional charter schools formerly handled by the D.C. Board of Education and now oversees all city charters -- 56 schools on 82 campuses with more than 20,000 students.

The board also voted to begin the charter revocation process for Tri-Community, an elementary school in Northwest Washington, because missed several academic and management targets in its five-year review. Tri-Community officials said they had been plagued by leadership changes and staffing issues that affected enrollment. Last year, the board warned the school that it could lose its charter because it had not followed the plans in the charter.

This week the board also placed D.C. Preparatory Academy and the Maya Angelou Public Charter School on notice, saying that it had confidence in the schools but that they had missed some academic and management targets in their first four years of operation.

In other action, the board rescinded the approval of Colin Powell, a school that was to open in August, saying it had not provided follow-up information about its budget and curriculum.