Monroe school back in scholarship program
Prevailing Faith Christian Academy and the Louisiana Department of Education have reached an agreement that allows the school to participate in the Louisiana Scholarship Program for the 2016-17 school year.
Charles Brown, who founded the school with his wife Patsy, said enrollment will be open Jan. 19-26. Parents interested in enrolling students should call 410-1201 or go to prevailingfaithchristianacademy.com.
The school closed abruptly in September after being notified that it was no longer eligible for the program.
"The department removed the school from the Louisiana Scholarship Program for the current 2015-16 school year," DOE spokesman Barry Landry said. "The department did not close the school. There is nothing that has prevented the school from enrolling tuition-paying students."
About 40 children were moved to different schools. Those who wanted to stay in the scholarship program were directed toward Quest School in Monroe, Claiborne Christian School in West Monroe and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Monroe.
The DOE dropped Prevailing Faith Christian Academy from the scholarship program after an audit by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office found $84,924 in negative findings.
Of that, $84,000 was in questioned lease payments paid to Prevailing Faith Ministries, the church the school is housed in.
In a letter to the school, state Superintendent of Education John White said, "Louisiana Civil Code Article 2668 indicates that a lessor may not be the same party as the lessee."
An additional $924 was in expenditures that were unexplained or not related to educational purpose — including advertising and a charitable contribution to a student's family.
On Nov.12, Prevailing Faith Christian Academy petitioned the 19th Judicial Court for review of the DOE decision.
Nina Hunter, the attorney for Prevailing Faith Christian Academy, alleged that her client was not afforded equal protection under the law, meaning the DOE decision to keep the school from the 2016-17 scholarship program is “in violation of constitutional and statutory provisions.”
She said the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office unjustly denied her client additional time to submit documentation related to an audit but gave the DOE an additional two weeks to respond.
The petition requested that the school be reinstated in the program until a contradictory hearing was held because not being part of the student lottery for assigning scholarship students in early January would cause “irreparable harm” to the school.
Hunter said as of Oct. 22, her client had submitted “receipts evidencing that all funds originally questioned were used for an educational purpose under the statute" and had provided information that clarified the $84,000 was in questioned lease payments.
In November, a DOE representative said the department had received additional documentation related to Prevailing Faith Christian Academy and was reviewing it.
The story from the beginning: