The management fee is essentially net income, which the management firm gets to keep. Torchlight’s audits show the McQueens received $1.8 million in management fees in 20, which were by far the two most profitable years. They collect rent from the charter holder, Northeast Raleigh Charter, which does business as Torchlight Academy. The McQueens also bought the building in which the school is housed. The McQueens’ daughter Shawntrice Andrews was the fourth-highest paid with an annual salary of $65,000 a year. A family affairĭon and Cynthia McQueen were the two highest-paid staffers at Torchlight Academy, followed by principal Adonis Blue who made $70,000. The school has appealed the decision and the state board will establish a panel to hear the appeal. Last week, the state board followed that recommendation, citing McQueen’s “self-dealing” and “conflicts of interest” and missteps in the school’s special education program. The arrangement raised conflict of interest concerns among Charter School Advisory Board members, which recommended to the State Board of Education that the school be closed. Those hefty salaries are in addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars they are paid to manage the school.
Each was paid $160,000 during the 2020-21 school year, a $60,000 increase over the $100,000 each reportedly received the year before.
He created the firm in 2015, along with his business partner and wife, Cynthia McQueen.ĭon McQueen is also the school’s executive director, and Cynthia McQueen is Torchlight Academy’s principal. The Raleigh businessman ran the K-8 charter school with a reported 600 students (state officials could only confirm 489 during a recent on-site headcount) through his educational management organization (EMO), Torchlight Academy Schools, LLC. The school paid McQueen nearly $3 million in management fees between 20, financial audits submitted by the school show. Managing Raleigh’s Torchlight Academy was a lucrative family venture for Don McQueen. This story originally published online at NC Policy Watch.
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