Charter school ordered to repay WA $790K over enrollment

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state’s charter school oversight agency says Impact Public Schools misappropriated state funds by enrolling dozens of 4-year-olds in kindergarten and must repay about $790,000. KUOW reports in Washington, children must be age 5 by Aug. 31 to start kindergarten. But Impact, the state’s largest charter-school chain, claimed it was within its rights to enroll underage children as “early entrance” kindergarteners after the state barred it from opening a pre-kindergarten program in 2020. The way the school switched these students’ enrollment to kindergarten ran afoul of state charter-school rules, according to a court ruling and the state Charter School Commission. Impact declined to comment and is appealing the court ruling.