Troubled charter school in Wilmington to stay open

WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) -- A charter school will stay open after going through a financial scandal involving two former leaders.

Family Foundations Academy will continue to educate children. The State Board of Education renewed the charter and its new leader is Lamont Browne, who runs Eastside Charter in Wilmington.

Lamont Browne tells us, "This is not about the school this is about two individuals who made bad decisions. the rest of the staff is very strong."

The charter's future was in jeopardy after an independent audit found the school's leaders - Sean Moore and Tennell Brewington - allegedly used school credit cards to charge and pay for personal expenses, like car payments, groceries and other items.

The audit says Moore spent more than $73,000 - Brewington more than $20,000. Though auditors say she paid back about $3,000.

Both have been fired.

We tried to get comment from more than a dozen parents who showed up for parent teacher conferences today, but none wanted to go on camera.

Several teachers attended today's vote.

Jason Casper teaches the 5th grade. He tells us, "I'm delighted. We've been working very hard over the past couple of weeks to rectify the problems that came to light and I think Monday night's board meeting showed that the school has what it takes to stay open."

The Secretary of Education and other officials refused our request for an on camera interview, but said in a statement that the school has met academic standards and implemented organizational changes in light of the audit.

However, the school will undergo a formal review to see if it's violating its charter.

Browne says, "Right now we are gonna continue investigating and we're going to analyze every detail of the operation and make a strategic decision as to what is best for the school. So right now we have the end of the year to finish strongly and we will make a smart decision as to what is best for the school in years going forward."

The investigation into the finances continues. Both Moore and Brewington could face possible charges.