The commissioner of education has upheld the decision to fine charter school, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy for employing teachers who do not hold valid teaching licenses or permits. The announcement was made Wednesday.
The Minnesota Department of Education originally imposed the fine after visiting the school on March 19 and finding 23 staff members without state teacher licenses. The department then notified the academy, saying they had 30 days to correct the violations.
Then, on June 1, the department determined 14 Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy staff members were still out of compliance.
After reviewing the academy’s appeal, Commissioner of Education Alice Seagren reduced the number of violations to eight, determining the department failed to properly notify a few teachers about the violations and failed to provide sufficient evidence for others.
Seagren also found that the school remained out of compliance, past the correction deadline, for a total of 16 days and fined the school the full 60 percent of its total basic revenue for those days, as allowed by state statutes.
That fine resulted in a total withholding of state aid in the amount of $139,801.66.
