By Andrew Dunn and Jeff Scullin -
The Ledger

andrew.dunn@theledger.com
jeff.scullin@theledger.com

BARTOW -- Authorities arrested seven people Tuesday suspected of using a private, Christian school in Bartow to steal more than $200,000 from two of the state's school voucher programs and from the federal school lunch program.

The vouchers were intended for students at Faith Christian Academy, which closed in March.

But many of the students for whom the vouchers were meant had transferred out of the school or never attended Faith Christian, State Attorney Jerry Hill said.

Instead of paying for students' education, those arrested Tuesday pocketed the voucher money and used it to pay for real estate, personal automobiles, restaurant meals, airfare and cell phone bills, according to the State Attorney's Office investigation.

Taxpayers also paid for rent, utilities, tickets to a comedy show, clothing, satellite television, and trips to beauty shops and nail salons for those arrested Tuesday, investigators said. In August, Faith Christian's principal, Betty Mitchell, who was among those arrested, used voucher money to buy a $53,000 2003 Hummer H2, investigators said.

The investigation into Faith Christian Academy, located on East Main Street, began in December after bank officials notified the state Department of Financial Services of irregularities with one of the school's bank accounts.

According to a statement from Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, multiple vouchers were issued for more than 60 students, deposited and then changed into cashier's checks and cashed.

The Florida Department of Education also began its own investigation into Faith Christian after a parent complained in January of poor health and safety conditions at the school. Department spokeswoman Frances Marine said the state requires all schools participating in the scholarship programs to have a health inspection. She said the Department of Education called the Polk County Health Department to check up on Faith Christian.

"Not only had they not performed a health inspection at the school, but they had not even heard of it," she said.

In March, State Attorney's Office investigators served a search warrant at the school, seizing documents and computer records.

The money allegedly stolen came from the state's McKay and Tax Credit scholarship programs and the federal Title I program, which provides breakfast and lunch for poor students.

Hill said Faith Christian officials received vouchers for students who never attended the school or had transferred to other schools, forging parents' signatures, in some cases, to avoid detection.

School officials also lied about the school's finances and set up elaborate schemes to hide the money they were stealing, Hill said.

Polk County's state attorney said the investigation underscored the accountability problems with the school voucher program.

"There needs to be some checks in place to ensure this isn't rampant or widespread in other parts of the state," Hill said.

But state officials said Tuesday's arrests were proof that adequate safeguards are in place to prevent abuses of the voucher program.

"This is an example of the system working properly," said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush. "Of course, the governor's concerned whenever there is misuse of state taxpayer money. But all of the government agencies involved worked together, as they are (supposed) to. And we have gotten to the bottom of this."

A spokesman for the Florida Department of Education said state officials need to strengthen oversight of the scholarship programs.

"I think we've tried to do that," department spokesman MacKay Jimeson said, referring to a bill supported by the governor and Education Commissioner Jim Horne. "That was not passed through the Legislature."

The Faith Christian investigation led to the arrests of six Polk County residents and one Tampa resident. The seven people are related and face numerous felony charges, including racketeering, money laundering, organized fraud and grand theft.

Mitchell, 37, of 1629 Old Bartow Eagle Lake Road in Bartow, served as Faith Christian's principal. The State Attorney's Office investigation also identifies her as "pastor and prophetess" of the Deliverance Christian Center in Lakeland. Mitchell also identified herself as president of the Early Childhood Christian Education Association, which purportedly accredited Faith Christian Academy. But she was not listed on the organization's official incorporation records.

Also arrested were Willie James Jives, 35, and Margaret Burns, 31, of 724 E. Ponderosa Drive in Lakeland; Demario Quowon Jives, 19, Jocie Jives, 60, and Jeanette Jives Nealy, 36, of 3210 Independence St. in Lakeland, and Levy Gail Everett-Davis, 42, of 4124 E. 97th St. in Tampa.

All bonded out of the Polk County Jail on Tuesday evening except Everett-Davis, who was still being held at the Hillsborough County Jail late Tuesday night on $40,000 bail.

They are scheduled to make their first court appearances today.

The arrests were made by the State Attorney's Office with help from the Polk County Sheriff's Office, along with Bartow and Tampa police.

Hill said the investigation into Faith Christian Academy is ongoing, but he declined to say whether further arrests would be made.

None of those arrested could be reached for comment Tuesday. Lakeland lawyer James Domineck, who represents Mitchell, refused to comment.

Faith Christian Academy opened in 1999 with 110 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and closed on March 4, 2004, state officials said.

The school was accredited by the Early Childhood Christian Education Association. In 2002, Burns filed the paperwork to set up the organization as a Florida corporation, listing herself as its sole officer. The state dissolved the corporation in September for not filing an annual report.

The organization seems to have existed on paper only. Investigators said they found a document on Mitchell's computer about the accrediting organization, including a letter she wrote in 2001 to the state Department of Children & Families asking the department to approve ECCEA as an accreditation association.

"ECCEA is a closely related organization to Faith Christian Academy, sharing officers and addresses," according to an affidavit prepared by Jeanette Dugas, an investigator with the State Attorney's Office.

The School District cooperated with the State Attorney's Office in providing information on Faith Christian, according to Carolyn Finch, director of Polk's Office of School Choice.

"What they were looking at were collected dollars from students who were no longer at the school," she said. "We listed for them any student on the McKay Scholarship, and we listed if they were back in our system."

McKay Scholarships are state vouchers given to students with disabilities to use to go to private schools or other public schools. The vouchers are worth as much as the student would have generated for the school district, which could be up to several thousand dollars for profoundly disabled students, or as much as the private school's tuition -- whichever is cheaper. According to the state, Polk County had 331 students using McKay vouchers last year.

Faith Christian Academy didn't accept any severely disabled students, according to Finch. She said the school took on about 56 McKay voucher students. Of those, 28 went back to the public school system, with 10 going on to other private schools.

She said there were definitely students who left Polk County public schools and went to Faith Christian and then came back.

"What we don't know is if they continued to collect voucher dollars for them," she said.

Besides McKay scholarships, Faith Christian also was accused of pocketing money from the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program. These scholarships, of which the state says Polk had 359 last year, are paid for by businesses and doled out by third-party, nonprofit organizations.

Florida PRIDE of Tampa is the scholarship funding organization for Polk County. Denise Lasher, a spokeswoman for the organization, said that Florida PRIDE has worked with the State Attorney's Office since February on the Faith Christian case.

"We are appalled that somebody would take advantage of vulnerable children for their own personal gain," she said.

Lasher said Florida PRIDE had given out three scholarships last year to Faith Christian. She said the organization provided 19 scholarships to the school the year before.

Florida PRIDE has stricter oversight than the state requires, Lasher said. Families must provide full financial disclosure, and schools must be listed on the Department of Education's Web site, verify attendance of its students and prove its tuition rates.

Lasher said Florida PRIDE verifies its attendance by signing a form that becomes a legal document, subject to penalty.

Lasher said more state oversight of voucher programs is needed -- a point State Attorney Hill made more forcefully.

"It's a situation that's ripe for fraud," Hill said. "I would hope this would be a wake-up call."

Andrew Dunn can be reached at andrew.dunn@theledger.com or 863-802-7588. Jeff Scullin can be reached at jeff.scullin@theledger.com or 863-533-9079

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