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Vineyard's Franklin Discovery Academy was reprimanded Saturday, making the school's future uncertain beyond the current academic year.

The state charter school board voted to place the Franklin Discovery under formal probation, giving administrators and staff until June to address a series of perceived lapses in financial management, campus operations and student safety.

"I would like to see if the current board and the current staff can make this work," state charter school board member Dean Brockbank said. "I feel confident the students are safe going back to school on Monday."

The Utah County charter school was rocked this week after allegations surfaced that a student had been inappropriately targeted by a former employee and another had been groped by her classmates.

State school board staff visited the school, and on Friday described to board members a campus in which students are left unsupervised, instructional time is minimal and safety hazards — including combustible material and electrical wiring — are prevalent.

The state charter school board called for an additional meeting Saturday in order to allow for public comment and additional information before taking action against the school.

That meeting included testimony on the school's finances from Deputy State Superintendent Scott Jones, who described a widespread lack of accounting controls and areas of vulnerability.

Franklin Discovery Academy utilizes multiple ledgers and bank accounts without reconciliation, he said, and has issued several school charging cards to various personnel, many of which are linked to reward accounts of Jen Price, chairwoman of the school's governing board.

"We're just providing this for decision-making purposes at this point," Jones said, emphasizing that he was not accusing the school of violating policy or law.

Charter board member Michelle Smith remarked that the "incredible financial situation" of Franklin Discovery effectively made moot the question of whether to terminate the school.

"It almost won't matter if we allow them to continue operating because they don't have any money," Smith said.

Price said the school is able to account for every purchase made with public funding. She also said linking of accounts to her name was necessary in order to secure credit for operations.

"When you're a brand new school, no one will give you credit," Price said. "It was on my social security number and my credit history."

Charter board member Greg Haws said the circumstances at Franklin, while not ideal, are not significantly different than what is experienced by other nascent charter schools.

"I don't really see things that would be a whole lot different in most startup situations," Haws said. "I think all of these issues can be resolved."

But board members also debated the question of whether student safety justified an immediate closure of the school, or turning operations of the school over to a new governing entity.

At Friday's meeting, Price said that an employee had been fired for grooming a student for a sexual relationship. And that employee's supervisor was also fired, she said, for knowing about the allegations for nine days without taking action.

She also said the groping incident had been misreported, and that law enforcement and Utah Division of Child and Family Services representatives had been contacted but declined to investigate.

Several parents of Franklin Discovery students attended Saturday's meeting, all of whom spoke in support of the school and emphasized the care that staff take for children.

"I feel completely confident that they are safe," said Heather Buell. "I would never put my children in danger."

But Utah Board of Education member Lisa Cummins alluded to the grooming of a student in asking administrators to explain their process of conducting background checks for employees.

Sam Urie, one of the school's two co-directors, said that before he and his counterpart were selected to lead the school last week, the previous administration would wait until "a few days" after an employee was hired to screen their background.

"Going forward," he said, "they happen prior."

After some disagreement over whether the current governing board and chairwoman would be allowed to stay at the school, the state charter school board voted to require an outside, third-party mentor to oversee the school's probationary period.

That period would extend until the end of the current academic year, with the potential of additional board action over the summer months.

"The biggest health and safety issue I can see is Monday morning," Haws said, "500 students not having a school to go to."

After the vote, Price said she was "ecstatic" about the board's decision.

She said the school won't know until Monday if families are electing to leave the school over the allegations, but she added that the crowd at Saturday's meeting demonstrates the support of the Franklin Discovery community.

"I believe there's enough dedicated and happy parents to keep the school open and thriving," she said.

Twitter: @bjaminwood