ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Students at the troubled First Coast Technical College in St. Augustine told the News4Jax I-TEAM that they were given inappropriate test instructions, and now the charter school is under investigation.
There are also questions of financial problems at the charter school. The St. Johns County School District said FCTC has almost $640,000 in unpaid bills.
And a faculty member who was fired for speaking out about problems said the school doesn't tolerate any criticism.
"When inappropriate or illegal activities are brought to the attention of administration, they get rid of those employees that bring those items up," said the teacher who didn't use his name even though he was already fired. "The taxpayers need to know where their money is going and if it's being misused. I think that's an important part of this."
This teacher said others were told to coach students on how to underperform on the Test of Adult Basic Education Skills, in order to gain more funding. Although he never did so. One student we spoke with, hopes it's not true.
The district's superintendent, Joseph Joyner, issued a statement on regarding the issues.
"The district is investigating allegations of irregularities in FCTC's administrative and reporting practices, including but not limited to practices relating to TABE testing, instructor qualifications, expenditure of grant funds and state reporting for funding purposes, and human resource management," Joyner wrote.
News4Jax was told the school's board will have an emergency meeting Friday on campus.
When students enroll, they have to take a test that measures adult basic skills. Students have alleged that they were told to score low intentionally for various reasons.
One student told the I-TEAM she was told not to try hard on the test so that she could stay longer at the college.
“They told me to score low on the TABE testing, so I can stay longer and learn more, even if I had high scores,” said the student, who asked not to be identified. “I thought it was stupid, and I just wanted to be out of here and get a job."
The district said another employee informed the Florida Department of Education that he was told to score low to be eligible for a workforce scholarship.
According to complaints from employees, the St. Johns County School district was made aware of these issues and no action was taken.
The district is also investigating the administration at the college for irregularities in spending and human resource practices. Here's what a student told us about the instructions she received before taking adult basic skills test.
Charter school's finances under scrutiny
The superintendent of St. Johns County schools has notified the Florida commissioner of education of the deteriorating financial condition of the First Coast Technical College, which 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.
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.