Student Count Day just took place across Michigan earlier this week. The amount of state aid a school receives is dependent on the number of students attending.
Now we hear news about a charter school director who may have falsified student count records.
From the Muskegon Chronicle:
The former director of the WayPoint Academy charter school, Barbara Stellard, faces multiple felony charges of fraudulently obtaining state school aid and by falsifying school records in a case that appears to involve student count numbers. The 10 felony and high court misdemeanor charges were brought by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and stem from reports filed in 2008, according to court records. The Michigan Department of Education is listed as the complainant.
WayPoint officials did not comment on the charges.
The sixth through 12th grade charter school is located at 2900 Apple Ave. in Muskegon Township.
The arrest warrant indicates that while Stellard was a “an officer or employee of WayPoint Academy … (she) did willfully falsify a record having a bearing on school aid.” The amount of state aid a school receives is based on its number of students.
Ladas-Hoopes set bond at $4,000 and added conditions that Stellard not use alcohol or drugs or face new charges.
A preliminary examination was set for 2 p.m. Oct. 17 in front of 14th Circuit Judge Harold Closz.
