Inglewood Charter School Operators Are Up to Some Shady Business

Today’s Fresh Charter Charter school founders Clark and Jeanette Parker stand accused of mispropriating tax payer funds. They operate several charter schools, in LA County, with the Inglewood location operating out of the former UHP building at the intersection of Imperial Hwy and Dehn Ave. This location is in Inglewood’s 4th District.

This author has lodged numerous complaints to Inglewood Police department, Inglewood Mayor James Butts and District 4 Councilman Ralph Franklin due to the unsafe driving patterns of parents dropping their kids off to school.

They drive down Imperial Hwy on the wrong side of the street, at times head first into oncoming trffic and pleas by this author for traffic services to provide assistance, as they do at Crozier and Kelso, continues to fall on deaf ears. It is unclear if the Parker’s have donated to the campaigns of Mayor Butts or Councilman Franklin.

At some point the Parker’s purchased the former UHP building at 3405 Imperial Hwy, and instead of opening the school in the building, they erected a school in the parking lot next door. It appears as no traffic plan or study was conducted to allow the transferring of children from Imperial Hwy to the school. Many parents and students regularly jaywalk from the south side of Imperial to get to the school on the north side of Imperial.

The Los Angeles Times published a story where the Parker’s are accused of purchasing buildings then charging $800k to taxpayers under the guise of rent. The LA Times article shows the Parker’s have operated with allegations of both academic and financial wrongdoing by donating thousands of dollars to school board members and state elected officials.

The article also suggests they seek certain districts that will allow them. This prompts 2UrbanGirls to review Inglewood Unified School District board agendas to see if they voted in favor of this district or not. It will also be telling if the Parker’s contributed to the campaign of Alex Johnson. After defeat by Dr. George McKenna, Johnson was installed to the LA County Office of Education whose primary job is approving charter schools that were denied by the home school district.

Photographs have been submitted to the city of Inglewood and IPD via twitter and there are STILL no visible additional patrols and/or traffic officers present to monitor traffic. This authors concerns were presented to the city while I was employed there and STILL radio silence to valid safety concerns, not to mention lost revenue for enforcement of traffic violations.

Councilman Franklin has an extensive real estate and investment portfolio that he lists annually on his annual statement of economic interests filings. Have the Parker’s paid off Mayor Butts and Councilman Franklin to avoid enforcement in Inglewood?

Read the full article by clicking here.