ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The superintendent of St. Johns County schools has notified the Florida commissioner of education of the deteriorating financial condition of the First Coast Technical Center, a charter school in St. Augustine that provides technical, career and adult education.
As a charter school, FCTC is part of the St. Johns County School District, but it has its own board of directors and operates autonomously.
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Superintendent Joseph Joyner's letter to the state, obtained by the I-TEAM, says FCTC's financial statement shows its balance went down by $832,960 in the past month and has $639,446 in outstanding and unpaid bills.
In addition, FCTC has failed to reimburse St. Johns County schools $484,986 for the last two payroll periods.
"It appears that FCTC is unable to generate the revenue to pay future payrolls and its other obligations," Joyner wrote.
DOCUMENT: Superintendent's letter to Florida Department of Education
Joyner called on the governing board of the charter school to work with the School Board to develop a corrective action plan in accordance with state statutes.
That letter was the second one Joyner sent regarding First Coast Technical Center's financial condition in the past eight days. Last week, a letter informed the FCTC's president of an investigation into allegations of irregularities in their administrative and reporting practices related to testing, spending and human resources practices.
The school's president, Sandra Rayburn-Fortner, told News4Jax on Tuesday that she welcomes the investigation and has nothing to hide.
She also says the financial issues are an error in financial accounting and they will be reissuing the funds.