Santa Fe South calls audit a 'personally motivated' attack

An Oklahoma City charter school leader said an investigative audit ordered for his schools is an unwarranted attack.

Chris Brewster said he was blindsided Monday night when Oklahoma City Public Schools requested a state audit of Santa Fe South Charter Schools, where he is superintendent.

The Oklahoma City school district has authorized Santa Fe South’s charter contract for 19 years. Brewster said district officials have never approached him about financial concerns, including in the days leading up to the audit request. 

“This is what infuriates me,” Brewster said. “If it wasn’t personally motivated, then they should have had the professional courtesy to reach out and ask us about this. It can only be personally motivated at this point.” 

Oklahoma City schools declined to comment for this story. 

The district school board voted unanimously to ask the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office to audit Santa Fe South’s finances from the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years and “any other years deemed necessary.”  

Auditors will also review whether Santa Fe South followed state law. 

The school board made the request after Santa Fe South’s financial practices came into question on Friday during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting.  

Santa Fe South encompasses seven charter schools in south Oklahoma City and has more than 3,500 students.

Brewster said the school district might have pushed for the audit out of ill will. Santa Fe South will change authorizers in July from Oklahoma City schools to Oklahoma City Community College, meaning the school district will no longer collect 3% of Santa Fe South’s state funds as an administration fee. 

Brewster is also the president of the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association, which reached a landmark lawsuit settlement last month with the Oklahoma State Board of Education. The state board agreed to allow charter schools access to local tax revenue, an income stream previously reserved for traditional school districts. 

Districts across the state, including Oklahoma City, are challenging the controversial settlement in court, arguing it could cut their funding deeply. 

“It looks to me like the loss of control, revenue and the ability to keep us from expanding has created in (Oklahoma City schools) a desire for a response, and it seems to be capricious in nature,” Brewster said. 

Santa Fe South faced scrutiny last week when the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s general counsel, Brad Clark, outlined concerns about the charter system’s relationship with its nonprofit, Santa Fe South Development Corp.  

While speaking to the state Board of Education on Friday, Clark questioned a $300,000 loan the nonprofit gave at 0% interest to Sovereign Community School, a struggling charter school in Oklahoma City. Sovereign, a school designed to serve Native American students, received the funds in May. 

Brewster said the Oklahoma City district prohibited Santa Fe South from absorbing Sovereign into its charter network and from giving the loan directly from school accounts. 

Instead, the nonprofit made the $300,000 loan, which Brewster described as a “tiny, miniscule” fraction of its expenses.  

Santa Fe South Development Corp. reported $4.85 million in revenue and $4.6 million in expenses in 2019, public records show. Nearly all of its revenue comes from Santa Fe South schools. 

The schools pay rent to the nonprofit, which in turn manages the schools' real estate debt and pays for facility upkeep, Brewster said. 

Clark questioned whether such a loan is allowable. Oklahoma law forbids public schools from giving their state funds to another district.  

Clark described the nonprofit as a “pass-through entity” designed to move school dollars. He also was critical of an unexplained $421,000 management fee that appeared in the nonprofit’s tax forms. 

Brewster said attorneys reviewed and approved the terms of the loan. He said Clark never informed Santa Fe South that its financial practices or nonprofit presented legal issues.

The state Education Department disputed that claim in a statement to The Oklahoman. 

“Mr. Brewster was present for multiple State Board of Education meetings where concerns about Santa Fe South’s taking-over of Sovereign Community School were addressed by state board members,” the agency said. “These concerns included the lending of money by Santa Fe South to an insolvent Sovereign and when loan documents were requested, they were only provided months later.” 

Clark also noted Brewster is both the superintendent of Santa Fe South and the president of the nonprofit. Brewster said this arrangement is ideal to ensure the nonprofit is in line with the school’s needs and mission. 

He disagreed with comparisons to Epic Charter Schools, another major charter system that faced an investigative audit.  

Epic co-founder David Chaney served as both the school superintendent and co-owner of the for-profit company that manages the virtual charter school system. State legislation in 2019 blocked Chaney from continuing in both roles. 

Acting as president of a nonprofit is completely different from owning a company that makes money from a school, Brewster said. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt requested state auditors take an in-depth look at Epic after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation alleged the school embezzled millions in taxpayer funds, including $10 million that went into the pockets of Chaney and co-founder Ben Harris. 

Epic, Chaney and Harris deny any wrongdoing. No one from Epic has been charged with any crimes. 

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to attribute a quote to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, not its general counsel. 

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at oklahoman.com/subscribe.