Virtual schools defrauded Indiana of $40M. Now the state says it will try clawing it back.

Indiana will try to claw back around $40 million from two virtual charter schools and the public school district charged with overseeing them after an investigation found the charters inflated student enrollment counts and defrauded the state for the last three years.

Daleville Community Schools is the charter authorizer, charged with oversight, for Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. A state audit found that the schools inflated their enrollment counts, which are used to determine how much money the schools receive from the state.

A report, provided by Daleville, showed that hundreds of students counted in the online schools rolls were never assigned a single class. In the 2016-17 school year, 740 students took no classes in the first semester and 1,048 took no classes in the second semester.

Many students were re-enrolled by the school, even after they had left. In at least one case, the school re-enrolled a deceased student, said State Examiner Paul Joyce.

Joyce told the State Board of Education at its meeting Wednesday that the schools’ action could be considered criminal.

Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2019/07/10/virtual-schools-inflated-enrollment-defrauded-state-40-million/1694083001/