OSC Presses for Oversight after Charter School Delegates Sweeping Control to Vendor

While investigation continues, OSC reports the school violated public contracting laws and mismanaged cash while the vendor failed to provide transparency on how it used $57 million in public funds.

TRENTON–An investigation finds that a private vendor, College Achieve Public Schools, Inc. (CAPS, Inc.), was named the charter management organization (CMO) and given near-total control of College Achieve Greater Asbury Park Charter School (CAPS Asbury) without state review or approval. With CAPS, Inc. in control, and the school’s Board of Trustees minimally involved, the school violated public contracting laws and nepotism policies, according to a new report by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

OSC initiated this investigation following press reports regarding financial mismanagement, illegal procurement practices, and a lack of transparency regarding the use of public funds at CAPS Asbury, as well as calls for a probe by state legislators. The report, which confirms and supplements press accounts, provides additional details regarding the scope of the misconduct and what CAPS, Inc. and its leadership knew of the issues.

Charter schools like CAPS Asbury are public schools funded by local and state taxes. State law requires the school’s Board to supervise and oversee operations. But OSC found the charter school entered into a “lopsided” contract and did so without any opportunity for competition among vendors. Through that contract, the Board ceded sweeping authority to CAPS, Inc. The contract requires the school to keep the CMO as a vendor for effectively two to three years after the Board decides to replace it. Testimony described the charter school as a “franchise” of CAPS, Inc.

OSC found that the Executive Director of CAPS Asbury, whose role was like a school superintendent, was hired and paid by CAPS, Inc., with limited oversight from the Board of Trustees. The Executive Director also served as CAPS, Inc.’s Chief Operating Officer, holding a leadership role in the vendor organization while also serving as the school’s highest administrator–yet was evaluated by the CMO that she helped lead, not the Board.

While she served in dual roles, the school hired her husband as principal, her mother as an interventionalist, and her two children for roles that remain unclear. Under her leadership, the school paid more than $100,000 to a business owned by her brother-in-law.

Both she and her husband, during their employment, accepted cash on multiple occasions—for uniform sales or renting out school facilities—without documenting the expenditures. For more than three years, multiple school officials and others associated with the school raised the alarm about these abuses to CAPS, Inc. executives. It was only in the spring of 2024 that the CAPS, Inc. CEO notified the Board of Trustees, who fired the Executive Director and her husband.

“Charter schools are public institutions. When they delegate sweeping control to a private vendor without oversight or the ability to terminate the contract if needed, it creates an environment ripe for fraud, waste, and abuse,” said Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh. “Our findings underscore the need for stronger safeguards and transparency in charter school governance.”

OSC's investigation found CAPS Asbury's initial charter application to the Department of Education (DOE) was denied in part over concerns about delegating too much authority to its proposed vendor, CAPS, Inc. In its successful second application, CAPS Asbury omitted any mention of CAPS, Inc., then contracted with the vendor after securing approval—exposing a gap in DOE's review process that only examines CMO-school arrangements during the application process.

From 2016-2023, CAPS, Inc. was responsible for nearly all of the core functions at three charter schools, CAPS Asbury, CAPS Central, and CAPS Paterson, receiving $57 million in public funds from the schools in its network, which operate on eleven campuses.

This investigation remains ongoing, and OSC has been unable to obtain complete information about how the $57 million was spent, and whether problems remain, because CAPS, Inc. and CAPS Asbury have declined to comply with subpoenas issued by OSC and have instead filed lawsuits against OSC. CAPS, Inc. first sued OSC in November 2024. In April 2025, CAPS, Inc. filed a second lawsuit against OSC—this one specifically on behalf of CAPS Asbury—to block OSC’s access to the results of an internal investigation prepared for the school and the CMO. Both matters are pending before the Superior Court, Appellate Division.

OSC's investigation also found that CAPS Asbury was in a precarious financial state. For years, CAPS, Inc. regularly waived hundreds of thousands of dollars that CAPS Asbury owed in fees without being transparent about its financial practices. The CAPS Asbury Board passively accepted this arrangement.

The annual financial audit for 2022-2023, the only year the debt forgiveness was reported, indicates CAPS, Inc. waived $385,568 in fees for the prior year. CAPS Asbury has not disclosed how much, in total, has been forgiven, nor has the debt forgiveness been reported transparently to enable state regulators to determine the financial health of the charter. Charter schools with deficits can face corrective actions, financial monitoring, or possible revocation of their charters by DOE.

OSC made seven recommendations to CAPS Asbury, including regular evaluations of the vendor and chief school administrator by the Board. OSC also recommended that the Board review the contract with its CMO vendor to ensure it can terminate the contract under reasonable terms, if necessary. Additionally, OSC recommends that the Board formally approve debt forgiveness, analyze why the school’s expenses regularly exceeded the budget in the first place, and require a regular, detailed accounting of funds spent by its vendor. Additionally, OSC recommends that DOE close the loophole that allowed CAPS Asbury to delegate so much authority to its CMO with limited oversight.

Read the report.

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