Audit finds suspicious spending at Quest Academy

Quest Academy has cleaned house after substantiating complaints of corruption by those at the charter school’s helm, but the punishment could continue for recently fired Principal Connie Jordan.

It seems Jordan took thousands more in taxpayer dollars than just the $15,000 unearned bonus that sparked a state investigation, according to a forensic audit of the Las Vegas charter school’s finances. That audit led the school’s newly reconstituted board to hand over all evidence to the Nevada attorney general to investigate and possibly prosecute Jordan.

The attorney general’s office “can’t confirm nor deny whether we have an ongoing criminal investigation,” spokeswoman Jennifer Lopez said Friday. However, Quest’s new board President Spencer Gunnerson confirmed that the school was cooperating with the attorney general in the investigation.

Looking at just three months of school credit card usage for 2011, Anthem Forensics found that Jordan spent nearly $1,400 at Barnes & Noble on Nooks and accessories.

She spent $3,200 at Wal-Mart on a Blu-ray player, three Kindles, two 19-inch liquid-crystal display televisions, a digital camera, food, gift cards and more.

She spent $820 at Best Buy and more than $4,000 mostly on travel expenses.

Anthem called the expenses “questionable,” at the very least.

There were also thousands of dollars in payments from the school’s account to staff members and herself beyond their regular salaries.

Although privately run, the northwest Las Vegas K-8 school operates under a state contract and receives more than $5,000 per student from the state — the same amount the Clark County School District receives for its students.

Jordan has agreed to pay back the $15,000 bonus.

The board hasn’t requested any other repayments yet, Gunnerson said, noting that the investigation continues. The school’s previous board members have all resigned, as has Dean of Student Services Shawna Rice and President Christina Fuentes, who gave Jordan the $15,000 bonus in three $5,000 checks to circumvent the board. Checks of that amount require only one signature under Quest policy.

Earlier this year, the State Public Charter School Authority threatened to cut off Quest’s contract because previous board members ignored the authority’s push to discipline Jordan and restructure school leadership. At the authority’s Jan. 8 meeting, Quest reported that it has just written Jordan a reprimand and told her to pay back the $15,000.

“The threat of revocation rests on your shoulders,” authority Chairwoman Kathleen Conaboy told Quest’s board at the time. “If you continue to choose not to act, you leave us no choice. We would love to see you succeed. But it is your board who’s responsible to do the right thing.”

Since then, Quest has “phenomenally” made an about-face, authority Executive Director Steve Canavero said. New members joined the school’s board and fired Jordan on Jan. 28. The last of the three remaining board members stepped down on Jan. 30. The board had been entirely reconstituted with nine new members on Feb. 22, Canavero said.

All the while, the school has operated with a new principal, Debra Roberson, who took a leave of absence from Clark County School District to take over Quest’s day-to-day operations. She was a director of assessment, accountability, research and school improvement for the district, which has no connection to Quest. The school and 15 others in Nevada are overseen by the state authority.

Quest’s new board members include Kelli Miller, deputy treasurer of the Nevada State Treasury, retired Clark County Associate Superintendent Jolene Wallace and attorney Anthony Barney.

Finding such talent in such a short time is a “testament to the strength of the Quest community,” Canavero said, noting that the authority “wants trust to be restored” and see the school continue.

Quest had until the end of business Friday to respond to the authority’s last demands for “corrective action.”

Failure by Quest to implement the authority’s recommendations would “demonstrate a failure to govern the school,” giving cause to close the school, wrote Canavero, referencing state law.

But Quest’s late-afternoon response seemed to address all of the authority’s concerns, putting the school on solid ground.

However, it remains to be seen if Quest’s former principal, Jordan, will face criminal charges.

“We’ll obviously cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation,” Canavero said.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at
tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.