A year after declining to renew the charter for James A. Singleton School, the Orleans Parish School Board has filed a lawsuit against the school’s operator, the Dryades YMCA, seeking the return of excess money that the school system gave Singleton and a payment of debt that the YMCA allegedly owed the school.
The suit is the latest twist in a years-long saga that has included allegations of falsified background checks and misuse of public money, an investigation by the Orleans Parish district attorney's office and the closure of the school.
In the lawsuit, filed Nov. 23 in Civil District Court, the School Board says the Dryades YMCA has not returned more than $381,000 in excess money the board gave it to operate Singleton, a charter school in Central City. The extra money was based on the school's estimated enrollment, which turned out to be smaller than expected.
The suit also asserts that money the Dryades YMCA owed Singleton, potentially more than $1 million, should be repaid to the school system. The school and the Y are closely affiliated with the BOLD political organization.
The filing accuses the Y of breach of contract, breach of constitutional and statutory duties and unjust enrichment. It seeks a writ of sequestration, which would let the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office withdraw $381,578 from the Dryades YMCA's bank account.
Years of controversy
Last year, police arrested Singleton’s chief operating officer on allegations of fabricating criminal background checks for some of the school’s employees. The schools superintendent at the time, Henderson Lewis Jr., moved to revoke the school's charter, but a lawsuit by the YMCA got in the way. Soon after, District Attorney Jason Williams said his office would investigate financial improprieties at the school, specifically the $1 million-plus that the YMCA owed Singleton.
Lewis ultimately declined to renew Singleton’s charter, and the school ceased operation at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.
In October, the district’s attorney’s office refused charges for the chief operating officer. The agency did not respond to questions Thursday about its investigation or why the charges were refused.
Daniel Davillier, attorney for the Dryades YMCA, did not return messages.
Taslin Alfonzo, a spokesperson for the school system, said the School Board has a "legal obligation" to go after the funds, and that the board is "confident in its legal position."
Lawsuit filed
In the six months since Singleton closed its doors, the School Board's lawsuit says, the school system has yet to receive answers about Singleton's finances or any plan to reimburse public money.
Specifically, it says Dryades never repaid $366,589.78 in excess per pupil funding, money issued at the beginning of the school year based on estimated enrollment. Schools are required to reimburse excess money after they have an accurate head count. According to attachments filed with the suit, NOLA Public Schools sent Dryades an invoice on July 30 but it still has not been paid.
Louisiana law says that if a charter school loses its contract, it must return all equipment or cash that came from local or state coffers to the charter authorizer, which for Singleton was the Orleans School Board.
The suit also alleges that an undetermined amount of money was passed from the school to the YMCA.
Audit finds debt
In 2020, Doug Evans, then the CEO of Dryades YMCA, told New Orleans schools officials that Dryades owed Singleton $381,578, and Dryades’ independent auditor found that Singleton was owed an additional $1.14 million from its “sponsor organization and other programs,” according to letters sent from School Board officials to Dryades. The letter said such borrowing was in “direct conflict with state law.”
A later audit reduced the debt to $677,792, but the School Board alleges that change was never explained.
Despite being issued 13 notices of noncompliance, most of them about financial discrepancies and failure to turn over records, Dryades never explained to to the school system how the money was used, according to the suit.
Last year, the School board sued Better Choice Foundation, which had been the charter operator for Mary D. Coghill Charter School. It alleged that the organization's board misappropriated public money and owed the school system almost $1 million. That lawsuit is still pending in court.