An audit of a charter school in Chico, California, found possible financial fraud. California has a weak charter law and one of the worst records in the nation for holding charter schools accountable and monitoring fraud.

A former Blue Oak Charter School administrator is alleged to have used school credit cards to purchase weapons, movies and clothing, according to an audit conducted by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team.

The Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team, a state agency tasked with providing financial guidance and reviews to California school districts, audited Blue Oak this year in response to concerns brought forth by the school and the Butte County Office of Education.

The team analyzed financial documents from 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, and found that fraudulent activity may have occurred in that period, according to the Extraordinary Audit report released on Nov. 16. The school’s executive director during that time was Nathan Rose.

The 380-student Waldorf school experienced significant financial challenges in recent years and was over budget for several years and struggling with cash flow, Executive Director Susan Domenighini said.

The board became concerned that something “wasn’t right,” and approached Chico Unified School District, the agency tasked with overseeing the school, for additional support and eventually asked the Butte County Office of Education request that FCMAT conduct an Extraordinary Audit.

The findings of that audit, released earlier this month, indicate there may have been misuse of school funds on the part of the former school executive director and noted that “deficiencies and exceptions” and the school’s internal control environment increased “the probability of fraud, mismanagement and/or misappropriation of funds.”

The report states that the school’s then executive director and other administrators routinely used school credit cards for travel expenses and meals, and that the executive director charged meals, snacks and beverages to school credit cards without an identifiable business purpose.

Although no administrators were named in the report, Nathan Rose served as Blue Oak’s executive director from June 2012-June 2016. After leaving Blue Oak, he went on to serve as the superintendent/principal for Pine Ridge Elementary School District, a position he held for several months.

One section of the report states the former executive director “extensively” used credit cards established as school accounts and issued in his name for food, fuel and other purchases that may have been of personal benefit. Some of those purchases include weapons, tactical gear and military radios; a Birchbox monthly beauty product subscription service; iTunes, Amazon On Demand and IndieFlix downloads; numerous fast food purchases; clothing and accessories; Disney Resort transactions; liquor store transactions and more than $3,990 in unsubstantiated expenditures to Costco, among other expenses.

School staff could not account for several items purchased with school credit cards, some of which were shipped to the then executive director’s residence, including an Epson home cinema, a Fuji underwater camera and folding knives.