St. Johns County charter school suspends its president

First Coast Technical College under scrutiny for testing, HR, finances

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – At an emergency meeting of the board of directors at First Coast Technical College on Friday, the charter school's president, Sandra Fortner, was suspended amid allocations of unpaid bills, testing irregularities and issues with teacher qualifications.

The I-TEAM has been looking into problems the school in St. Augustine all week and the St. Johns County School superintendent notified the state Board of Education that the school has more than $600,000 in unpaid bills.

The board voted 7-2 to suspend Fortner and two other top administrators with pay.

The FCTC board agreed to give the St. Johns County School Board full access during its investigation. Board chair Carol Alford said suspending Fortner was the best way to do this.

“Because of the publicity that’s been in the newspaper, we’re simply trying to get the school on track," Alford said. “We’re partnering with St. Johns County School District so that they can come in to do the job to find out what issues that we have or don’t have."

STATEMENT:  Superintendent's letter to Florida Department of Education

People concerned about what was going on with the school attended the meeting and spoke about the allegations against leaders of FCTC. Speakers admonished the board, even after hearing of the suspension.

During the investigation, the board will receive updates from St. Johns County administration and make sure FCTC employees are complying, something people who showed up for the meeting want to make sure is happening.

The school's board will meet again in two weeks. Until then, the vice president will run the school.


About the Authors:

Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.