PRIVATIZED SCHOOL FAIL
Leader of charter school to quit following hedge fund losses

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The founder of a St. Paul charter school that lost $4.3 million in a hedge fund investment is quitting as superintendent and chief financial officer, the Hmong College Prep Academy board said in a posting on its website.

The board said it plans to meet Monday to vote on Christianna Hang’s letter of resignation, which was submitted days after the state auditor’s office determined that the school failed to follow state law and its own policies when it invested $5 million in the hedge fund.

State Auditor Julie Blaha said her office was not assigning blame to anyone for the school’s losses, although the office sent its findings to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office for possible action, the Star Tribune reported.

The school opened in 2004 with 200 ninth- and 10th-graders, according to its website, and since has undergone several expansions on what now is a sprawling grades K-12 campus.

The school is the top destination for families who decide against sending their children to St. Paul Public Schools. It had been looking at financing for a new middle school when it made the hedge fund investment in 2019, according to federal court documents filed by school and the hedge fund, Woodstock Capital LLC.

The school sued the hedge fund alleging fraud and negligence. Woodstock Capital attributed the losses to the pandemic.