Ball State University wants all Imagine Schools boards in Indiana to undergo leadership and governance training and is investigating whether two local boards violated state law.

The actions are a result of a Journal Gazette investigation that described a lack of local control over two charter schools in Fort Wayne.

John Jacobson, dean of Ball State’s Teachers College, sent a letter and gave an interview to The Journal Gazette on Wednesday, calling the information presented in a three-day series published last week "deeply troubling" and said "serious concerns" were raised about Imagine’s two Fort Wayne charter schools.

The Journal Gazette investigation also prompted Jacobsen to contact the president and CEO of Imagine Schools Inc., a private charter school management company based in Arlington, Va., and issue two mandates for Imagine boards in Indiana.

Ball State officials have notified each of the four boards related to Imagine, which operates two schools in Fort Wayne and two in Indianapolis, that they will be required to participate in training conducted by a nationally recognized authority on charter school governance and leadership, Jacobson said. They are also investigating whether the Fort Wayne boards violated Indiana’s Open Door Law by approving a series of measures outside a public meeting.

The schools face the possibility of having their charters revoked if they don’t comply, Jacobson said.

Don Willis, president of the Imagine MASTer Academy board, said the board will comply with Ball State’s wishes. Dennis Bakke, Imagine president and CEO, could not be reached for comment.

Ball State is the authorizing agency behind the Fort Wayne Imagine schools and approved their charters, along with 30 other charter schools statewide.

Jacobson oversees the director and staff who manage the university’s Office of Charter Schools. Charter schools are funded by state tax dollars but are free from some of the regulations imposed on traditional public schools. The objective has been to allow charter schools to be more innovative with their educational approach.

Imagine-Fort Wayne Charter School Inc. is a local non-profit agency that operates Imagine MASTer Academy, 2000 N. Wells St.; its sister entity, IFWCS II, runs Imagine Schools on Broadway, 2320 Broadway.

The Journal Gazette found many of the decisions concerning Imagine MASTer Academy and Imagine Schools on Broadway were made by Imagine Schools Inc., not the local non-profit boards. The manner in which the boards were operating may also violate Internal Revenue Service regulations, which require tax-exempt organizations to have a board that maintains independent, local control.

The local Imagine boards made a series of moves outside regular public meetings. Board members with Imagine-Fort Wayne Charter Schools Inc., which governs the MASTer Academy, signed a contract with Imagine Schools Inc. through a resolution that claims it has the same authority as if it had been approved unanimously at a public meeting.

The board also signed resolutions to create two charter schools in Texas by lending their non-profit status. The state’s open-meetings law does not allow public bodies to take formal action outside public meetings.

Jacobson said he is concerned the Fort Wayne board may have violated state law.

"If we, through our investigation, find that approval was made outside of a board meeting, that is not appropriate, because any approval of Texas schools would need to have board approval. As far as we have (seen) in our notes, we have not found any indication on that," Jacobson said. "The story’s not over on that yet."

Jacobson said he’s also concerned with an internal memo written by Bakke that details how he feels the companies’ schools should operate in relation to the boards. It should be Imagine that creates, owns and runs the charter schools, not local boards, Bakke wrote in the September 2008 memo.

"We found that very offensive, so we immediately sent him a letter," Jacobson said.

The letter told Bakke that his organization must cease from intervening into local governance boards’ authority, Jacobson said. Bakke sent Ball State officials an e-mail Tuesday that said he "will make sure all of the schools in Indiana clearly understand Imagine and the role that they play with the board will be delineated more clearly, and there won’t be any infringement," Jacobson said.

Jacobson said he doesn’t fault Ball State’s charter schools office, saying staff provided the appropriate oversight of the schools. He hopes to finish his investigation by the end of the year.

Ball State will pay for the charter school boards to undergo training.

ksoderlund@jg.net