KIPP DC School Allows Five-Year Old to Leave School Unaccompanied

 In 2021, a KIPP DC school allowed allowed a 9-year old boy to leave school without an adult.  While his mother waited on the outside where a staff member was supposed to bring him, according to school protocol, the boy was left to roam and to exit another door.  While crossing the street, he was hit by a car and mortally injured.  After months of suffering, the boy died.

The boy's mother recently filed a $50 million lawsuit for negligence.

Yesterday, another KIPP DC parent was asking tough questions about another example of negligence by, yet, another KIPP DC school.  Seems this time around the school once again broke protocol and allowed a 5-year old girl to leave the building and the premises alone after school.  The child was found on his grandfather's front porch by a neighbor.

Apparently, having $80 million of the taxpayers' money in the KIPP DC bank accounts does nothing to make sure children are safe or cared for.

KIPP DC Audit Adds to Disturbing Picture of Financial Mismanagement

In light of remaining unanswered questions related to the embezzlement at KIPP DC of over $2.2 million over an 18 month period (see here and here), the latest available audit raises additional concerns about KIPP DC's ability and commitment to financial transparency and competence.

KIPP DC was flagged in December 2021 for what independent auditors referred to as a "significant deficiency."

KIPP DC Public Charter Schools and Affiliate
Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs (Continued) Year Ended June 30, 2021

Section II. Financial Statement Findings

 
Significant Deficiency
Finding 2021-01—Search for Unrecorded Liabilities

 
Criteria: Based on the principles contained within auditing standards generally accepted in the United States and Government Auditing Standards, management is responsible for the maintenance of internal control over financial reporting with the objective that financial statements are accurate under generally accepted accounting principles.

 
Condition: During our search for unrecorded liabilities, we noted construction in progress activity incurred through June 30, 2021, that was not recorded or properly accrued for at June 30, 2021.
 

Cause: Management did not have adequate controls implemented around the review of construction contracts and commitments to ensure costs incurred, but not yet invoiced were properly accrued for.
 

Effect: The error unreported assets, specifically property and equipment, and liabilities by approximately $5,209,000.
 

Recommendation: We recommend management develop additional controls over the review of construction contracts and commitments to ensure all costs incurred are properly recorded in the correct period.

 
Views of responsible individuals: Management agrees with the finding and recommendation. See corrective action plan for further information (p.8).

Given the fact that KIPP DC's net assets in 2019 were over $144,000,000, with over half of that in cash or assets that could be readily turned into cash, it would seem that some oversight would be forthcoming.  

Except, of course, that KIPP DC's corporate board is in place as a protection racket rather than public accountability for the billions of public dollars that KIPP DC, Inc. has garnered.

 

 

Tough Questions Remain After $2.2 Million Stolen by KIPP DC Technology Director, Part 2

According to KIPP DC's top-heavy bureaucracy, unnamed individuals found out the $2.2 million was missing from their $140+ million pot "during a routine review" in December 2021.  As noted in Part 1, this came 20 months after KIPP began writing a steady stream of checks for thousands of tablets, laptops, software, and services that were never delivered, or even ordered. One month later, the ringleader of this scam, Kevin Ward, committed suicide. 

Now the question arises: did any KIPP employee contact Mr. Ward about the imbalance in the technology ledger prior to his suicide in January 2022? Another question Mr. Ward can no longer answer: did any employee of KIPP, besides himself, financially benefit from his thievery from the public purse? And finally, what kind of accounting system allows $2.2 million to be spent with nothing to show for it for more than a year and a half?

According to an anonymous KIPP DC spokesperson, the system had enough tech resources to make sure that students had the epuipment they needed soon after the Covid lockdown began in early 2020:

A KIPP DC spokesperson said despite never receiving technology from Ward’s fraudulent orders, students learning from home during the pandemic used devices purchased from other vendors. Within the first few weeks of the pandemic, middle and high school students received devices that had already been in KIPP DC’s inventory.

So this introduces another question: if KIPP DC inventory was sufficient to satisfy tech needs during Covid virtual school period, why did KIPP DC approve the orders for thousands more tablets and laptops?? Who approved these expenditures??

Will the Washington Post or even a DC local TV station ever ask all these questions?  Don't hold your breath.

Tough Questions Remain After $2.2 Million Stolen by KIPP DC Technology Director, Part 1

Per usual, corporate media has done a poor job in uncovering the facts surrounding the grand larceny committed by KIPP DC's Senior Director of Technology, Kevin "Scooter" Ward.  Had the federal government not filed a civil lawsuit last week to recover the real estate, cars, motorcycles, art, sports memorabilia, and cash that Ward ripped off over a period of 18 months, we probably would not know about the heist. 

You see, KIPP DC never publicly reported this massive embezzlement, even after Mr. Ward committed suicide in January 2022, just about a month after KIPP DC reportedly noticed that millions of dollars had been spent with nothing to show for it.

Only because of the federal complaint, we now know that between April 2020 and August 2021 Ward was able to place phony orders through a phony company for computers, software, tablets network services, and other information technology services for more than $2.2 million. 

Even though KIPP DC never received a single tablet, computer, or software item, KIPP DC promptly wrote checks to the phony tech company, Tenret Tech, which was created by Ward.  

 

For 18 months, checks were deposited to bank accounts owned by Ward, which he used as his personal piggy bank to buy all sorts of fun stuff, including a Ducati motorcycle, two Teslas, and an Alfa Romeo.

Did no one at KIPP DC wonder why none of the thousands of laptops and tablets were ever received?  Did KIPP not need all the technology that the charter chain wrote checks for during a pandemic when kids were doing virtual school?  Does KIPP DC have so much of the taxpayers' money that $2.2 million spent with nothing to account for it just doesn't matter?  Maybe.

According the KIPP DC's latest publicly available 990, KIPP DC had $149,488,630 in assets in 2020.  That's a remarkable stash for a non-profit corporation with 18 schools and 7,000 students.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Tough Questions Remain After $2.2 Million Stolen by KIPP DC Technology Director"