After losing fight with the Manatee school district, this charter school wants a rematch

The ousted leaders of Lincoln Memorial Academy wanted a redo on the hearing that took place nearly six months ago, citing new evidence, but their request was just denied.

Robert Cohen, an administrative law judge, ruled in favor of the School District of Manatee County after a four-day hearing last August, noting that Manatee officials were justified in taking over Lincoln Memorial after concerns with its finances and leadership.

Cohen issued the final order in September, and the charter school fought his ruling in the state’s First District Court of Appeal about one month later.

In late January, Lincoln Memorial tried to halt its appeal. If the motion were granted, Lincoln Memorial would then petition for a new trial before the Division of Administrative Hearings, ending its appeal of the original hearing.

The appeals court denied that request on Wednesday, and the order was distributed in a news release by Mike Barber, the school district’s spokesman, on Thursday afternoon.

The argument for a new case

In an effort to set aside the original judgment and redo the hearing, attorney Roderick Ford submitted a “motion to relinquish jurisdiction” on Jan. 24.

He argued that school board members were swift in their takeover of Lincoln Memorial, and that school officials had no chance to implement a financial recovery plan.

When a school is in “deteriorating financial condition,” the charter school and its sponsor — the school district, in this case — are required to come up with a plan.

In a letter to the Florida Department of Education, the district’s chief financial officer, Heather Jenkins, notified state officials that Manatee and Lincoln Memorial had reached an impasse after one month.

While the charter school felt it provided an adequate plan, the school district believed Lincoln Memorial was withholding vital information.

“This plan was inadequate and did not include viable steps which would result in Lincoln Memorial Academy’s financial solvency,” Jenkins wrote in her letter to the state.

Richard Corcoran, the state’s education commission, intervened in a letter dated July 16, 2019. Addressing the school’s governing board, Corcoran said he would dictate a plan if Lincoln Memorial and the school district failed to agree on their own plan by July 23.

On the day of his deadline, the school board voted 4-1 to terminate Lincoln Memorial’s charter and take over its campus. Board members argued that an immediate takeover was necessary because the school’s finances were crumbling, creating a danger to students and employees, an argument that prevailed in court.

But instead of collaborating with school officials, Manatee effectively silenced Lincoln Memorial and stripped its leaders of any chance they had to recover, their attorney argued.

The water bill

In his effort to redo the administrative hearing, Ford also said there was evidence that district officials worked in conjunction with the city of Palmetto to create a “false or fake water bill,” which was used as evidence of the school’s poor financial state.

Attorney Erin Jackson submitted her own motion, opposing the effort to halt Lincoln Memorial’s appeal and redo its previous hearing.

Jackson argued that many of the issues, such as Lincoln Memorial’s financial status and its ability to recover, were already argued during the four-day hearing in August. And if any new evidence was discovered after the hearing, it resulted from a lack of due diligence on the part of Lincoln Memorial officials, she continued

“Lastly, even assuming that the new evidence allegedly acquired by Appellant demonstrated that Appellee engaged in fraud — which it did not — this alleged fraud as to the water bill would not change the overall result if a new trial were granted due to the numerous other issues,” Jackson wrote.

She went on to list several issues outside of the water shut-off notice: “LMA’s financial mismanagement, former LMA Chief Executive Officer Eddie Hundley’s ongoing presence on LMA campus, LMA’s inability to pay for food deliveries, and LMA’s failure to properly background screen employees.”

With the denial of Ford’s motion, the appeal process will continue, along with two separate cases in local and federal courts.

Seven former employees are suing Lincoln Memorial Academy Inc. for more than $100,000 in unpaid wages, improper salary deductions, unpaid contributions to the Florida Retirement System and other money owed.

And the former leaders of Lincoln Memorial filed a federal lawsuit against the school district, alleging racial discrimination, racial harassment and retaliation against the school, which was founded by an African American for the benefit of his community.

“Justice and reconciliation must include the reinstatement of the charter for Lincoln Memorial Academy,” Ford said at a recent news conference. “We also want the teachers who were terminated to be reinstated with full back pay and any other remedies the law requires.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.