The State Board of Education has suspended its funding to Alexis Rainbow Arts Academy until it has provided the board with a variety of records and financial reports.
The board is accusing the northwest Oklahoma City school of 62 students of not producing key administrative and financial records in compliance with state law. Several communication attempts to the school and the limited liability company that manages them have not been successful, Assistant State Superintendent of Accreditation and Compliance Larry Birney said to the board during a regular meeting Thursday.
Superintendent Janet Barresi said there is evidence of unpaid bills, discrepancies between account money that was stated and what was in bank balances and a lack or nonexistence of records of board meetings. Investigators have also found evidence of the withdrawal of personal checks from school accounts.
Barresi also said that child nutrition officials have been making on-site visits to Alexis Rainbow Arts Academy weekly to make sure nutrition requirements are met. Usually, she said, nutrition officials visit school sites about once each year.
“All in all, an inordinate amount of time and effort has been spent in trying to discern what the issue is,” Barresi said. “We know now that, in our opinion, there is a jeopardy in the way state and federal dollars have been spent and accounted for.”
The Alexis Rainbow Arts Academy listed on the the State Department of Education website seems inactive.
According to GuideStar,
This organization is not registered with the IRS.This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ. This organization has not appeared in IRS records for a number of months and may no longer exist. This organization's exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990 N, or 990-PF for 3 consecutive years. Further investigation and due diligence are warranted.
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