MANHATTAN — The elite Shuang Wen School, which has been the target of numerous investigations into alleged financial impropriety and enrollment practices, has been cleared of illegally using funds related to an after-school program and may get its popular, longtime principal back.
A report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation released Wednesday revealed that no theft of funds occurred at the Cherry Street school, which has been embroiled in controversy since charges were leveled against it by the Department of Education last summer.
But the report did find that the school had engaged in "unorthodox" financial practices, many of which were "either accepted or overlooked by the Department of Education" for years.
The school has been the focus of multiple investigations by the DOE since last year and saw its longtime principal, Ling Ling Chou dismissed in July — moves that many have decried as harassment and the result of a campaign of complaints from a small group of parents.
The 18-month SCI investigation examined complaints about the transfer of $81,000 from the school’s parent association to Shuang Wen’s nonprofit arm, the Shuang Wen Academy Network, to use for the school’s Mandarin-language after-school program.
The report said that the money — earmarked for the program due to a loss of funding from the city Department of Youth and Community Development — was transferred after a near-unanimous vote (139-1) by the parent association during a 2010 meeting attended by a DOE official.
“We did not find any theft of funds in connection with any of those complaints,” the report stated.
Additionally, investigators, who examined financial records going back to 1998, cleared Shuang Wen of any wrongdoing related to a planned 2010 trip to China for the school’s eighth-graders, after complaints were received about the use of grant money to help pay for the trip.
SCI found that the grant money was properly used because the city required DOE chaperones for the trip, the report said. It was not clear how much grant money was spent.
“We did not find any money missing,” the report said. “The district superintendent approved the 2010 trip as well as two earlier trips.”
However, the investigation did reveal “unorthodox” financial practices by Shuang Wen that “violated either a Chancellor’s regulation or standard operating procedures,” according to the report.
Among the violations was the way the school handled its general fund, which was established in 2006, the document said.
Investigators found that many of the practices surrounding the fund “did not comply with the DOE’s standard operating procedures,” but the report did not elaborate.
Many of these issues were corrected following an audit by the DOE in 2009, the investigation added.
The DOE said it was "troubled" by SCI's report.
"We are deeply troubled by [SCI] Commissioner [Richard] Condon’s findings, which show that standard operating procedures, Chancellor's regulations, and City Conflicts of Interest Law were repeatedly violated — specifically with regard to financial management of the school,” read a statement from DOE spokesman Matthew Mittenthal.
The statement noted that other investigations into the school are ongoing, and that recently dismissed Principal Ling Ling Chou may be reinstated depending on the outcome. Chou is currently assigned to administrative duties.
“At this point, we have multiple ongoing investigations that we hope to conclude after Principal Ling Ling Chou comes in for an interview, which she has tentatively agreed to do next week,” the DOE’s statement said. “Until she comes in for an interview and our investigations are complete, we will not make determinations as to whether she may return to the school."
Parents at the school — who have blasted the DOE’s actions as a “witch hunt,” and pointed to a small contingent of current and former parents as the source of the complaints — said the report was proof of the DOE’s inappropriate measures.
Shuang Wen parent and ex-PA executive committee member Gale Elston said the school had been "crippled" by the allegatons and described the leadership of the DOE as being "either weak, oncompetent or corrupt."
Current Shuang Wen Principal Iris Chiu did not immediately return a request for comment.
