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St. Petersburg School Director Accused Of Fraud

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By CHRIS ECHEGARAY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

A longtime St. Petersburg activist was arrested this morning and charged with stealing more than $256,000 from a small, private school where she is the director, the state's chief financial officer said.

Marva Dennard, 68, of 2326 Melrose Ave. S. was charged with two counts of grand theft in excess of $100,000.

Marva Dennard

Dennard, who operates Bishop Academy II in St. Petersburg, is accused of taking the funds from two programs, the McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities and Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship, according to state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

Dennard, whose nickname is Ms. Hats, is accused of inflating numbers, submitting scholarship applications that falsely indicated tuition at $3,500 or $7,500 when the actual tuition was $2,600, investigators said.

She submitted inflated fee schedules for students to the Department of Education in order for the school to receive the maximum McKay scholarship payments, and failed to provide the services prescribed and paid for by the department, investigators said.

The school recruited the low-income minority population of Pinellas County. It pursued students who qualified for the McKay and corporate scholarships by offering "free" scholarships.

From July 2002 through June 2005, Bishop Academy II received $782,897 in McKay funds and $225,904 in corporate funds.

Dennard ran for city council in 1999 but lost. She was being held in Pinellas County Jail with bail set at $200,000.

Reporter Chris Echegaray can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or cechegaray@tampatrib.com.

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