BATON ROUGE - The operators of the Impact Charter School at Baker mismanaged nearly $2.5 million in funds set aside to educate children, including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on personal expenses for the school's chief executive, according to a report released Monday by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's office reviewed by The Investigative Unit.

The findings, which have been turned over to state and federal prosecutors, follow a May 2024 raid at the school, which is operated by Education Explosion. The non-profit, which has provided educational services in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2009, holds a charter that is set to expire June 30.

A 2023 audit showed the school has an annual budget worth about $8 million, with about $7 million coming from state and federal funding. The amount allegedly mismanaged is nearly one-third of the school's yearly expenses.

The school has just over 400 students in kindergarten through 8th grade.

The audit, conducted in response to complaints the auditor's office had received, alleges the school's CEO, Chakesha Scott, diverted money to the Friends of Impact Charter School, where she is also the CEO. In addition to improperly using money from the FICS account, the auditors say, she used school funds to pay for trips taken by herself and her family, lease or buy vehicles for personal use, pay off credit card charges that appeared personal in nature and pay for improvements at a building the school did not own.

In its response to the audit, the school said information was cherry-picked and "reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship" among the various entities associated with the school. "Dr. Scott also notes that if there were any inadvertent errors in corporate formalities or record-keeping, those errors can be corrected," the response said.

The full audit report, at 173 pages, is available here. Its key findings:

-Education Explosion's CEO diverted $1,504,268 to a bank account for Friends of Impact Charter School;
-The CEO diverted another $171,659 to a third party on FICS’ behalf, and used some money on personal expenses;
-The CEO diverted at least $221,506 in fees from students, parents and others to FICS and non-school accounts; 
-The CEO spent $130,494 on travel for herself, her husband, and her daughter (exceeding the school travel budget by $114,094), including trips to Chicago, Disneyland Paris, Egypt and New York;
-The CEO spent $166,520 in school money on an Acura MDX and a Land Rover Velar she and a daughter used;
-The CEO spent $129,493 to improve a building the school did not own;
-With the school credit card, the CEO spent $88,607 on goods and services that appear personal in nature, including payments to an online university, cleaning charges and online personal training classes. 

Also, the auditors also say she may have used charter school funds to pay for work at her home, including landscaping and the installation of an in-ground swimming pool. 

In total, auditors found just over $2.5 million in charter school funds were mismanaged or diverted from their intended purpose.

Some of the money diverted to FICS, for example, ultimately benefited Scott and a daughter. FICS records showed Scott take $42,371 the same day she and her daughter bought a used Tesla for the same amount.

"Copies of this report have been delivered to the District Attorney for the 19th Judicial District of Louisiana, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, and others as required by law," Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack wrote in the audit's summary. Scott and others may have violated several state and federal laws, the audit said.

A lawyer for FICS told the auditor's office last month that the auditor had no authority over it. It declined to respond to the audit and objected to its inclusion. "FOICS requests that any reference to it be removed from the audit report," laywer J. Lane Ewing Jr. wrote.

Amid the audit process, Education Explosion started to apply for charter renewal in August, but in December, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education did not include Impact Charter School on a list of schools applying for charter renewal. School leaders sued to be added to the agenda, but the judge dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the school to pay for the court proceedings.

A month later, BESE approved the charter school for renewal with stipulations that there may be special conditions depending on the findings of the investigative audit.