Two-ton claim against ipad school board De Hond
DUO is reclaiming more than two tons of education money from Maurice de Hond's former school board. The board received funding for another nine months after the closure of the Amsterdam Steve Jobsschool De Voor departure. DUO wants that money - € 207.738,34 - back.
Source: Youtube
In October 2016, the curtain fell for primary school De Voor departure, one of the two Amsterdam ipad schools that Maurice de Hond has managed himself since the summer of 2014 through his foundation Education 4 Nieuwe Tijd. Implementing organization DUO, which sent the definitive recovery on behalf of Minister Slob just before Christmas, follows the opinion of the Education Inspectorate that a school is not entitled to tuition fees if no education is provided.
Maurice de Hond calls the claim 'an embarrassing decision' in a response by e-mail to the Education Magazine. He has lodged an objection and is preparing for a legal battle with the administrative court. "We want to go all the way." The XNUMX euros that DUO is claiming back is no longer there, he says. "That was spent on education." De Hond believes that DUO has misinformed him and states that the Education Inspectorate could have warned the board earlier.
Power plug
The board pulled the plug eighteen months ago due to lagging student numbers and lack of perspective for De Voor spring. The last students left in the autumn of 2016.
One pupil was formally registered who could not just go to another school. In order to assess whether additional support would be needed, the pupil was placed in a school for special primary education through the regional partnership for a number of months.
In the meantime, funding continued to flow into Education 4 New Age. March last year the Education Magazine reported that the school board received about 23 thousand euros per month for the closed school. An amount based on sixteen students, or the number of registrations in the previous year.
Entitlement
The Education Inspectorate conducted an investigation into and concluded last spring that there was an unjustified 'funding advantage'. After October 2016, De Voor departure no longer provided education and was therefore not entitled to education money.
The school board believed, in its own words, through information from DUO, that after the closing of De Voor Lente, they could still claim funding for the entire school year, even without students. That money was partly intended for the other ipad school, De Ontplooiing, and would also help to boost the precarious financial position of the board. The Inspectorate placed the foundation in the autumn of 2016 under enhanced financial supervision.
Conclusions
Ultimately, the school board actually received funding for De Voor departure for the entire school year. Pending the Inspection report, DUO let the funding continue until the summer. The implementing organization is now claiming back nine months in tuition money: from November 2016 to July 2017.
The Education 4 New Time foundation is no longer a school board. Last summer, the other Steve Jobs School, De Ontlooiing, was handed over to the public school group Western Garden Cities. De Hond is the only remaining director of his foundation, responsible for the current affairs until the closure.
For De Ontplooiing, too, the foundation standard of 323 students turned out to be too high within five years.
The Development was the showpiece of the two new Amsterdam iPad schools, with more students and more spacious accommodation. But the foundation norm of 323 pupils - to be achieved within five years - also turned out to be too ambitious for this school.
Even before the transfer to the Western Garden Cities foundation, De Ontplooiing was subjected to a quality investigation by the Inspectorate. Last summer, the predicate 'very weak'. The new school board endorses the shortcomings and is working on improvements.
Earlier reports by the Education Magazine:
September 2017: DUO is demanding two hundred thousand back in concept claim ipad school
July 2017: School board De Hond received 130 grand too much, according to the inspection
April 2017: IPad school with one student
March 2017: O4NT Foundation receives tuition fees for closed Steve Jobs School
