The D.C. Public Charter School Board is doing an extensive review of the 18 charter campuses that came under its scrutiny with Mayor Adrian Fenty’s reorganization of the school system, according to officials.

Unlike traditional public schools, which are managed by a central administration, charter schools have been criticized and praised for their independent nature. They operate separately, only answering to a governing body on larger, non-daily issues.

Nona Richardson, spokeswoman for the charter school board, said the review process is ongoing this fall and includes analysis of the schools’ special education programs along with transcript and compliance reviews.

The purpose is to get a handle on how the transitioning schools are functioning, she noted, so they are on par with schools that have been under the charter board’s watchful eye from the beginning.

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Insiders in the charter school community said this week they believe the detailed review could expose a host of financial problems. That is because the previous oversight by the Board of Education was deemed to be more lax than the coming scrutiny.

The charter board became the supervising authority over all 56 charter schools as of June, when the mayoral takeover of the schools changed the structure of the system.

That overhaul essentially did away with the Board of Education as a body with responsibilities over local school matters. It has since reemerged as a state board with functions closer to those of the State Superintendent’s Office.

At the same time, the charter board gained oversight over all public charter schools.

Ariana Quiñones-Miranda, deputy director of FOCUS, a D.C.-based agency that keeps track of charters’ progress, said the feeling from her group is that charter schools with oversight from the charter board have had to submit financial reports much more frequently, “which has shown to catch problems earlier.”

“On one hand, this provides consistency so it’s more clear how charters are supposed to operate,” she said. “The downside is that with only one chartering authorizer, it has become a monopoly.”

In the decade of charter sites in D.C., eight of the schools forced to close were granted charters by the former Board of Education and four by the charter board.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com