Legislature dismantles Florida Virtual School board [View all]

[Baitball Blogger]

Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran praised lawmakers’ decision, calling it a “much needed review … in light of more than a year’s questionable management practices that otherwise unchecked could eventually threaten the tremendously valuable educational options that FLVS provides to students.”

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The virtual school, the largest online program in the nation, operated on more than $180 million of taxpayer money last year, providing online classes to more than 200,000 students. Founded in 1997, it is run by its own board, operating as its own public school district.

But its leadership has faced a tumultuous year, with its former general counsel, Frank Kruppenbacher, resigning in August after a dozen employees complained about his behavior. The investigation of those complaints led to an audit that detailed questionable spending and approval of contracts outside the school’s normal procurement process, among other problems.

An Orlando Sentinel investigation published last month revealed a series of cozy relationships between Kruppenbacher and FLVS board members, all appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott. Those relationships allowed Kruppenbacher to amass authority at the school and make decisions that went unchecked. He paid his now son-in-law to spy on a school executive, for example, and took long trips for his work as chairman of the board that runs Orlando International Airport without taking vacation from his full-time FLVS job.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-ne-florida-virtual-school-corcoran-takeover-20190506-story.html