Excerpts from AcademyofDover Charter Facebook Page:

6/12/14: TAX PAYER ALERT: Principal Noel Rodriguez ($4,615.38)

Delawareans, do you pay your taxes to give Academy of Dover Principal Noel
Rodriguez $4,615.38 every two weeks? The simple answer is yes you do. Are you
putting thousands more of your hard earned money into his retirement pension
every month. Yes you are. And still thousands more into his Social Security and
Medicare. Sure why not, isn't that what we all work so hard for. You see in this world
there are givers and there are takers. We citizens give through taxes and Noel takes
and takes and takes. He just isn't satisfied with having his gracious retired military
pension and healthcare, he wants to double up. Now there is nothing wrong with
having a second career after serving your country, but you should at least do
something you're good at if you plan on getting paid through tax payers money. As
a former military policeman, Noel's approach to administration is better suited for
the police force rather than heading a school. If you were as bad at your job as
Principal Rodriguez how much would you be getting paid? Or would you be fired?
Now we know why Noel has another reason for keeping school enrollment up by any
means necessary, his own private bank account. State education officials need to
keep a close watch on Academy of Dover for waste, fraud, and abuse and
significantly decrease Noel's pay immediately until he can be replaced or the
school's charter expires.

6/19/14: Academy Of Dover Charter fails to comply with anti-bullying laws

Delaware State Education officials report that Academy of Dover Charter School has
failed to implement required Cyberbullying laws. Cyberbullying has become a
nationwide epidemic with students from Elementary School to the University level
being harassed online causing problems like poor attendance, mental health
disorders, dropping out, fighting, school shootings, and suicide. Academy of Dover
has also come under scrutiny for under reporting incidences of in-school bullying to
state officials and parents, which also causes all of the same aforementioned issues
for students. For the 2012-2013 school year the school reported zero incidence of
bullying. In an exclusive interview with an Academy of Dover Charter parent; he
stated that he is "very troubled by the schools disregard for the law" and "will be
moving his child to a school that is 100% compliant with anti-bullying laws". The
parent stated that he himself "reported an incident to the school last year so to not
disclose that information to state officials as required is blatant and gross
misconduct". He added that he has "found the school to be highly unprofessional
and incompetent in many other aspects as well" and has been planning to remove
his child this summer do to the "bizarre behavior" of the Principal Noel Rodriguez
and Assistant Principal Cheri Marshall". Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn stated that
"the state is putting the school on notice" and that "this is an important focus".
Deputy Attorney General Patricia Dailey Lewis stated "parents need to push the
school to do better". Local politicians like these who give it to us straight and don't

spin the truth deserve our support. Both Denn and Lewis are strong anti-bullying
advocates. They care more about saving our children than promoting Common Core
or propping up an underperforming school like Academy of Dover Charter to keep
appearances up for DC politicians.

6/19/14: Academy Of Dover Charter School Principal bribes teachers

Faced with another summer of teachers fleeing the school, Academy of Dover
Charter Principal Noel Rodriguez desperately orchestrated a plan to keep his
disgruntled teachers from jumping ship again over the summer. Step one, bribery.
Noel offered the teachers "bonuses" if they meet certain criteria for the 2013-2014
school year. One would have to assume the criteria is very low since the bonus is a
payoff to stay with the school and Noel is in desperation mode so anything is
possible. I'm willing to wager that "good teacher attendance" or "maintaining
continuing education credits" is on the short list of requirements to get the bribe... I
mean "bonus". Now here's the kicker. Step two, Noel connected the bonus pay to a
signed contractual commitment to stay employed at the school through the 20142015 school year. So to get the money teachers had to legally sign on to teach the
next school year, what kind of nonsense is that? Teachers at the school are already
underpaid, so to use the proposition of more money for future work is pure
manipulation and borderline abuse of power.
It looks like Noel got his School Board of Directors to sign off on his scheme during
the one Board meeting they had back in October 2013. So when did Noel promise
the money, before or after it was approved? How much was the bonus? What was
the criteria? Who received the bonus? Are there bonuses every year now? All the
details of the scheme need to be made public by the state Department of
Education. Noel should stop playing games and give the teachers a raise for putting
up with him and his wacky ways. How can anyone with an ounce of professional
dignity sit back and watch the AOD debacle take place and do nothing? The school
is scheduled to close in 2016 and the city of Dover will be happy to see it go. It
pained me deeply to see one of Academy of Dover's nicer teachers working the
register at Wal-Mart recently. She said "It's my second job." Really low Noel, really
low. You are truly disgusting.

6/20/14: Academy Of Dover Charter sued: 2.7 million in unpaid fees

Mosaica files 2.7M dollar lawsuit against Academy of Dover Charter School
Academy of Dover was sued when it attempted to terminate its relationship without
paying its bill to Mosaica Education Inc., resulting in a judgement against the school
for millions of dollars. Now we see why the school is constantly begging parents for
tissue paper, pencils, erasers, antibacterial wipes, etc., their broke with a capital B.
The citizens of Delaware cannot afford to keep putting tax dollars into the poorly run
Academy of Dover Charter. The school needs to be shut down ASAP. The children
being sent there are not getting the high quality educational experience they

deserve. The community demands immediate action from Delaware State and US
Federal officials.
See the Superior courts ruling against Academy of Dover below.
INITIAL FILING CHANCERY COURT CASE NO. 4047-VCP SEE IMAGE ATTACHMENT FOR
JUDGMENT DETAILS DATE DOCKETED: APRIL 13, 2010 JUDGMENT IS ENTERED
AGAINST: ACADEMY OF DOVER INC ACADEMY OF DOVER CHARTER SCHOOL
JUDGMENT AMOUNTS TO BE PAID AS FOLLOWS: JUDGMENT AMOUNT $962724.68
740,000.00-INTEREST AT 18% PER ANNUM FROM 5/9/08 222,724.68-INTEREST MAX
RATE PERMITTED FROM 5/9/08 COSTS $9082.50 9082.50-INTEREST AT 7.25% FROM
5/9/08
According to an inside source AOD has yet to pay off the debt.

6/20/14: AMERICAN GREED: Academy Of Dover Charter School

There is a little thing called a Pcard which is an exclusive credit purchasing card
given to exclusive public employees in Delaware. This credit card is a pipeline
straight into all that tax money you misinformed gullible citizens pay all year and is
used by certain people to conduct business for the public good of the state of
Delaware. Or so though say. In this instance we'll focus on the Academy Of Dover
Charter School Administration, Principal Noel Rodriguez and Assistant Principal Cheri
Marshall, who jet set all over the country, stay in fancy hotels, and dine at the finest
restaurants in town thanks to your generosity. In the first three months of 2014
airfare charges to Delta Air, U.S. Air, United Airlines, and East/West Airlines Australia
totaled over $3,000.00. In that same time frame you tax paying suckers also treated
them to multiple "working vacations" at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville,
the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and the Omni Hotel in downtown
Las Angeles for a grand total of over $4,300.00. And last but not least they must
feast for over $1,000.00 in dining expenses, your treat! Wouldn't it be nice if we all
could pick a city we wanted to travel to and then search for some obscure training
class or conference meeting to justify the trip? No it wouldn't be nice, but that's the
game they're playing with your money. In the near future we will expose their greed
for the rest of 2014 and revisit 2013 which includes more trips to Vegas, also
Chicago, DC and many other expensive far away destinations. There are enough
trainings and conferences locally and in surrounding states that this type of blatant
abuse can no longer be tolerated by tax payers. Pay attention people. Contact your
local politicians and public officials and demand an end to Pcard greed. If they don't
listen and change the policies then vote the crooks out of office.

6/20/14: Councilman/Mayoral candidate, Anderson, mired in AOD Charter School

scandal
They say in politics timing is everything, so the Academy Of Dover Charter School
financial scandal couldn't come at a worst time for Dover City Councilman and

former Academy Of Dover School Board member David Anderson. In a few short
days Mr. Anderson is hoping to win the Dover mayoral special election, but with
everyone asking questions and demanding answers about AOD's financial
management and excessive spending his chances of victory are looking slim. Either
Mr. Anderson was aware of the situation which makes him culpable or unaware
which makes him incompetent, putting him in a serious Catch 22 situation.
Astonishingly, according to the schools website and student's parents the Academy
Of Dover School Board met only one time back in October of 2013 during the entire
2013-14 school year. It appears that the School Board hired Noel Rodriguez as
Principal then just trusted his judgement and character as they went on about their
daily lives. Considering Mr. Rodriguez had never been a head Principal in his life and
he himself referred to his new position as Principal as "a learning experience", you'd
think the School Board would want to be more involved in AOD's management and
decision making process. With over three million dollars flowing through the school
annually, financial oversight should have been a top priority and taken much more
seriously than it has been. Academy Of Dover has been in financial trouble for many
years and many educators and financial auditors questioned the renewal of its
Charter until 2016. Perhaps they should have quit while they were ahead as the
recent scandal has caught the attention of State Attorney General and future
Governor Beau Biden, which means things are about to go from bad to worse for
Academy of Dover. As for Mr. Anderson, if he can't manage to keep a small Charter
school in order he should give up his Councilman seat and withdraw his name from
the Mayoral race immediately. He is clearly not fit for either job.

6/30/14: DSEA vs Academy Of Dover Charter

Let's face facts, with the passage of House Bill 165 in 2013 and its subsequent
signing into law by Governor Jack Markell, the flood gates of tax payer money
flowing through charter schools has now opened up wider than a Kardashian in a
NBA locker room.
Academy Of Dover Charter is owned by Dover ED, LLC and managed primarily by
Innovative Schools. The Delaware State Education Association stated that the DSEA
has attempted to stop private companies from filing for public school charters in
Delaware and that "such companies are not prohibited from obtaining charters to
run what are essentially "for-profit" schools." The DSEA also stated that it "objects to
the fact that for-profit managements intend to use public, tax-supported school
funding to pay dividends to their investors."
The owners of the Academy Of Dover, represented by Principal Noel Rodriguez are
pulling off the biggest tax payer money grab the city of Dover has ever seen.
Currently they spend or pocket over $3 million annually under the illusion they are
running a successful charter school and funding will surely increase with the new
influx of tax payer money from the passage of HB 165. The DSEA is part of a new
Charter School oversight committee continuously monitoring and reviewing the
practices of Academy Of Dover Charter and will ensure AOD meets all new stringent
accountability standards or face having its charter renewal application denied.

Citizens need to work with the DSEA to hold Academy Of Dover accountable for the
tax payer funds they receive. The bill also ridiculously allows charter schools to
receive ten year charter extensions. Contact your local State legislature in the
House and Senate and demand they propose laws to reform HB 165 and call for a
full investigation of AOD Charter's waste, fraud, and abuse. We normal hard working
American citizens may not be able to keep up with the Kardashians but we do have
laws in place to keep up with those trusted with tax payer money.

7/10/14: AOD Charter fails DOE state review

The Delaware Department of Education Charter School Accountability Committee
has found that Academy Of Dover Charter has failed satisfy numerous crucial
criterion. The committee assessed AOD on 14 criterion and found AOD did not meet
the criteria of the following: (3) Mission, Goals, Educational Objectives (4) Goals for
Student Performance (5) Evaluating Student Performance (6) Educational Program
(7) Students with Special Needs (8) Economic Viability.
The Charter Committee has rejected AOD's application for charter modification upon
further review.

7/16/14: Academy of Dover Charter exploiting low income Blacks to remain open
Looking at the numbers you would think Academy of Dover Charter is located in the
heart of a fast paced urban inner city rather than the laid back middle class suburbs
of Dover, Delaware. Even while viewing the panoramic school portrait hung proudly
in the school's lobby you can't help but notice that nearly all the students are
African American. Academy of Dover basically enrolls all of its students from Kent
County where the racial demographics are 24.9% Black, 6.4% Latino, and 68.8%
White. Conversely the school's statistics show enrollment at an astonishing 85.4%
Black, 2.9% Latino, and 10.4% White. So is the 85.4% African-American enrollment
figure an orchestrated result or accidentally outcome?
The Academy of Dover Charter is widely known for being a troubled underperforming mismanaged institution to the well informed citizens in the area, hence
they wisely send their children elsewhere to get a high quality education. For many
socioeconomic reasons a low income family may be less informed than others, so
logically they may assume that a small charter school would be a good choice for
their child because of the smaller class size. So they go into Academy of Dover for
the infamous tour with the notorious trickster Principal Noel Rodriguez and after
getting the hard sell leave under the impression they have just enrolled their child
into a great elementary school. The truth is that smaller class size doesn't
necessarily mean a better education and with charters required to meet mandatory
enrollment numbers by the state the difference in class size is nominal. Not to
mention that the revolving door of teachers, legal problems, poor leadership,

difficult administration, and host of DE Department of Education inefficiencies at

Academy of Dover which would lead to the failure of any school regardless of class
size. Principal Rodriguez admittedly and openly targets preschools to find students
to enter Academy of Dover for Kindergarten and from the looks of things he is
trolling for low income Black kids to pay the bills.
Not far away in Dover the prestigious Campus Community Charter School enrolls a
more equally balanced 41.1% Black, 10.7% Latino, and 40.4% White. Approximately
half of Campus Community's students are low-income which is commensurate with
Delaware's school average, while Academy of Dover's low income enrollment is
extremely high at 85.7%. It's sad to see Principal Rodriquez preying on the poor
Black people of the community to fill enrollment quotas and receive the more than
3M dollars that flows through the school annually. Those who need the most help
should not be delegated to nothing more than a means of filling the pockets of the
schools owners and employees. Minority students getting off to a poor start in
school means more high school dropouts and higher unemployment. Delaware
supports successful charter schools, but the huge sums of money being put into
Academy of Dover Charter should be going to traditional public schools in Kent
County.

8/6/14: AOD Charter 40% Special Education

Academy of Dover Charter School has reported that its student body is comprised of
40% more special education students than the state average. They also reported
that the school is 86% Blacks and 84% low income. So if you're poor and Black and
Special Ed then this is your school. Or maybe not? The Delaware Department of
Education found that the AOD had significant deficiencies and did not meet the
criterion for Special Education standards outlined by the DOE. So if AOD has a high
percentage of Special Education students but are not meeting DOE standards for
Special Education, then why are they still open? This is a continuous problem
among a long list of other serious issues. AOD's charter should have been previously
denied in 2012. Other charters have been closed for less. No more propping up
AOD. No more playing favorites. This so called school has got to go. Call the DOE or
better yet email a formal complaint. The more valid complaints from the public the
DOE gets, the more likely they are to deny the next charter extension and close the
school.

8/6/14: Big drop in AOD Charter' s DCAS scores

Academy of Dover Charter School has reported very disappointing DCAS test scores
this year. Dramatic drops in both math and reading were seen across the board.
Reading scores are down to 48% from 71% in 2013. Math scores were at 70% last
year, but dropped to 49% in 2014. Let's all wait and see what excuses and spin the
school's Administration uses to appease the Department of Education on this
colossal failure.

8/6/14: DOE soft on AOD Charter, Principal runs wild

Academy of Dover Charter School has received more second chances than a
habitual cheating husband. Over and over again AOD comes home late, smells of
perfume, and has lipstick on its collar. For ten years, ten long years the school has
always had some major issue. Submitting incomplete forms, not meeting criteria,
unpaid court debt, parent complaints, unsatisfactory test scores, not paying
vendors, bad press, not implementing laws, financial scandals, Capital District
battles, etc. By now the AOD Administration must believe they can do no wrong
because the school's Board of Directors is absent and the DOE is as forgiving as a
Pastor on Sunday. AOD repents and all its sins are washed away. They are getting
away with murder.

8/6/14: AOD Charter's insidious scapegoating of Capital School District.

About 85% of Academy of Dover Charter School's students are acquired from within
the bounds of the Capital School District. AOD has gone to battle with Capital in the
past and they continue to lock horns as issues arise between the two. Capital School
District representatives have reported historic problems from AOD's notoriously
aggressive Administration run by Principal Noel Rodriguez and his minion Assistant
Principal Cheri Marshall.
Last year while attempting to once again hoodwink the Delaware Department of
Education into getting its way, AOD made false claims about Capital's elementary
schools. In official documents, AOD claimed that the elementary schools in the
Capital School District have an elementary configuration that ends with the fifth
grade. "Therefore, AOD students must leave at the end of fourth grade, currently
the highest grade at the school and attend an elementary school for one year only,
the fifth grade, before moving onto a middle school." The Department of Education
gave AOD a Pants on Fire and 5 Pinocchio's for making up this tall tale. Well not
actually, but the DOE did state that "this is not accurate, all of the elementary
schools in Capital School District (Booker T. Washington, East Dover, Fairview,
Hartly, North Dover, South Dover, and Towne Point) have PreK-4 or K-4 grade
configurations."
Again just this past year in an official DOE hearing AOD Principal Noel Rodriguez
went before the court and threw Capital schools under the bus supposedly on behalf
of AOD parents. Noel claimed that they are in fear of sending their children to
Capital District elementary schools because of bullying and "they don't feel very
comfortable with the options they have in the whole school district." Noel went on
to state that "Fear of bullying and other things that go on in several schools,
whether perceived or real is not relevant, but the fear is real from the parents for
their children." Yes Noel it is relevant especially when people like you use fear to
score points with state officials.

And now for the truth. Capital School District elementary schools do not have a
bullying problem. In fact each school in the district has inacted and implemented
strict anti-bullying policies which minimize bullying to levels well below the state
average. The district also exposes students at all levels to anti-bullying literature,
presentations, and discussions throughout the School year. But what about bullying
at Academy of Dover Charter School? Well you'd never know about it because they
have been under reporting bullying at the school and not implementing bullying
prevention policies required by the Department of Education. AOD reported zero
cases of bullying all school year but an AOD parent stated that "he had discussed a
bullying incident against his child with school officials so it should have been
reported to the DOE." He went on to say the only thing he recalls AOD doing was
one day of bully prevention for which his child had to wear a red shirt. "That's it."
We could go on and on with more examples of AOD's untruths and hypocrisy
regarding Capital, but you readers get the point and see the evidence for what it is.
Clearly AOD has a vendetta against Capital and has no problem besmirching the
good reputation of the Capital School District to fulfill their own personal agenda. All
7 of Capital School District's elementary schools outperformed Academy of Dover
Charter. We would also like to point out that AOD didn't petition to add a grade just
to make parents happy, they needed to get more students to get more money
because the school is not economically viable and can be closed for this reason.
Shut it down.

8/6/14: AOD Charter's Board of Directors epic failure, Principal runs wild
The Academy of Dover Charter School, Board of Directors met only once during the
13-14 school year as Principal Noel Rodriguez took full advantage of the situation.
The parents and students took Noel's abuse all year and no one was there to help.
The school Board is supposed to be in charge but at AOD Noel runs the show. He
took his crazy antics too far this year. His show is about to be canceled along with
his minion Cheri Marshall. Even those at the Department of Education who gave
AOD another chance are fed up and can't afford to put their own reputations on the
line any longer.

8/13/14: AOD Charter School: Worst Teacher Salary in Delaware ($30,508)

Yes, it's true. You read the headline correctly. Academy of Dover Charter School pays
new teachers 30K a year. Even after working there 15-19 long years you can only
make it up to a sorry $41,250, which amazingly is still below the starting first year
salary for 95% of schools in Kent County. In fact our research found that Academy of
Dover Charter is the lowest paying school in all of Delaware. In Kent County no
school's starting salary is below $39K except AOD Charter. The school receives over
$3 million of Delawareans tax money annually, so why skimp on the most important
aspect of any educational institution? Obviously these people are not serious about
educating children or they would pay teachers fairly and get higher quality

personnel (no offense). So where is all the money going? Let's begin with the
$520,000 kick back building lease the school pays annually, all the way down to the
over inflated Administrative salaries of Noel Rodriguez and Cheri Marshall. The inept
Principal Rodriguez makes one of the highest public salaries in Delaware ($110K) to
run the tiny charter school. Then there's Innovative Schools, an education
management company who does so much work for AOD they could have their own
office in the school. So adding up the $3.25 million bloated school budget with the
quarter million annual Pcard scam and AOD Charter is running a $3.5 million dollar
racket on the backs of Delaware tax payers. Welcome to America! Suckers.

10/6/14: Today the Exceptional Delaware Blog reported it was able to get a
statement from AOD Charter Acting Principal Cheri Marshall regarding the quick exit
of former Principal Noel Rodriguez. She stated that he resigned his position as
Principal. Now anyone who knows this man knows he isn't just going to walk away
from a $110K salary for no reason. It's a very safe bet he resigned as an evasive
maneuver or was given the opportunity to walk away before he was terminated. He
is likely laying low south of the boarder and enjoying the $600K of our tax money he
was unjustly paid.

10/8/14: Breaking News: Noel Rodriguez removed as Academy of Dover Charter

School Principal
After years of community concern and months of community pressure and outrage,
Noel "The Bully" Rodriguez has finally been ousted as principal of Academy of Dover
Charter School. We were unable to attain an official statement from the school as to
why he was removed, but sources report that it is due to a possible FBI & DE State
Auditor's investigation surrounding a misappropriation of Pcard funds. Maybe it was
just his own poor performance and incompetence or any of another half dozen
legitimate reasons that caused him to be relieved of duty. No matter how or why it
happened, the important thing is that he isn't running or ruining the school
anymore. Last school year Noel and AOD's bad reputation grew from a local issue to
a statewide public embarrassment. Academy of Dover is not out of hot water yet,
they have a big hole to dig out of before their charter is up for renewal and acting
Principal Cheri Marshall has some important questions to answer regarding her
involvment in a long list of serious allegations and accusations against the
Administration. Adios Noel. Stay away from our children and teachers.