ENCINITAS — Encinitas Union School District officials have requested documentation from the Theory Into Practice, or TIP, Academy in the face of allegations of fiscal mismanagement and lack of transparency.

Superintendent L. McLean King said the board of trustees voted unanimously May 5 to authorize the so-called Notice to Remedy. The notice, sent to the academy the following day, outlined a series of documents that the academy must produce to clarify questions the district has about the financial management of the school.

The academy was granted charter status by the district in accordance with state laws on May 1, 2006. While the nonprofit academy operates as a separate legal entity from the district, it is still subject to district oversight.

The school serves approximately 220 students in kindergarten through sixth grade at a shared campus with Ocean Knoll Elementary School on Melba Road.

King said in an interview after the meeting that the district has received numerous complaints from former academy board members and parents relating specifically to the financial management of the school’s budget.

In addition, he said the district had reservations about the apparent conflicts of interest at the academy. The document states that “at least four board members obtained paid employment or consulting positions with TIP Academy concurrently with, or after becoming board members.” The four members are Lisa Bishop, a teacher at the academy and the board’s president; Deborah and Michael Hazelton, leaders of the school; and Sandra Kaplan, a USC professor who provides curriculum to the charter.

The district will render a decision on whether to order staffing changes or revoke the charter’s status after reviewing the documentation. The deadline to submit the required paperwork, which ranges from tax records to board authorized contracts, is May 30.

King also said that the notice of remedy includes concerns about self-dealing. “We need to look at the number of board members who either have a spouse working for the charter or are themselves an employee,” King said. “These are considered conflicted members.”

Hazelton, the academy’s director of operations and development, said the school will supply all of the documentation requested by the district in order to prove that it is not engaged in illegal practices. “We have nothing to hide,” Hazelton said.

Parents and teachers rallied to support the academy May 9. In an issue that has polarized the education community, academy supporters characterized the district’s demands as part of a witch hunt.

Parent Susanne Hoover, who has one child in third grade and one child on the waiting list, said she is pleased with the educational aspects of the school. “The school is truly unusual in the curriculum and the way that they teach,” Hoover said. After reading through the Notice to Remedy, she said she’s not sure if mistakes were made. “With a EUSD representative on the board, I just assumed that they would be trying to help the academy,” she said.

“I hope TIP can correct these issues if there is anything that needs to be fixed. They (the district) aren’t really open to offering solutions,” she said.

“It would be a travesty to just close it,” Hoover said.