The Nampa Classical Academy plans to choose new board members tonight. According to the charter school's bylaws, the founding members will choose new members for the board of directors. The charter may have five to seven voting members. Two voting board members resigned earlier this month because they have concerns with two of the founding members: twin brothers Isaac and Mike Moffett.

Other board members have also resigned since the charter was founded, but their reasons have not been disclosed

According to the charter's own bylaws, The founders will choose the new board of directors.

The founding members, as outlined in the charter, are Matthew Schneiderman, Shawna Schneiderman, Michael Moffett, Isaac Moffett and Tracy Young (now married to Isaac Moffett).

Isaac Moffett is listed on the academy's Web site as a nonvoting ad hoc board member, director of operations and a geography teacher. Shawna Schneiderman is listed as a logic, literature and rhetoric teacher. Matthew Schneiderman is her husband.

• Listen to the audio and see a photo of the new board members.
• For a very detailed letter about events concerning the charter, read Mike Moffett's letter he sent Monday.
• I blogged about this last week as well after the special board meeting. See links to other stories in this post.
• Also: Listen to the audio tapes from the Oct. 19 meeting.
• Idaho Charter Commission says notice of defect is valid, says some questions were not answered and says news questions have surfaced.

Now here's where it gets dicey. Shawna and Isaac are paid charter employees. They are both married to two other founders. As I understand it, the head master or the top education official, supervises the certified staff, but the board of directors have the ultimate authority.

I can't tell if this is the structure that all charters operate under. I hope it's not. Everything is too connected.

Mike Moffett doesn't work for the charter but he was the first charter board chairman and he stepped up as the acting chairman when the latest board members resigned.

There are at least two other voting board members - Mitch Miller and Melia Loftus, who said last week at a meeting that they could not support the Moffett brothers in their leadership roles.

Once the founders choose new board members - I'm betting the newly selected board members will side with the Moffetts. I also expect to see a petition from the parents and teachers to remove Miller and Loftus from the board.

So far, it looks like the Charter Commission has serious concerns with Nampa Classical Academy. For starters, the Charter Commission says NCA did not meet the deadline — faxing at the last minute isn't wise — but even more importantly, the charter apparently didn't answer all the questions.

Furthermore, the Charter Commission has even more questions, based on the responses it received.

Remember, the Charter Commission and Nampa Classical Academy are already at odds because the Charter Commission has said NCA can't use religious textbooks. NCA has filed a lawsuit.

Back to my point. Where's the accountability if everyone is related or connected? When is it a conflict or a perceived conflict?

How do you separate personal lives and relationships from accountability and absolute transparency? And what about personal motives?

According to the bylaws, the Charter Commission can appoint a nonvoting member to the Nampa Classical Academy.

That needs to be done right away. It won't stop the board from taking steps, but it might provide a public conscience.

Idaho taxpayers need more accountability when it comes to charters.

In the meantime, I hope this all sheds new light on the need to create better methods for accountability from the get go. And it has to start with limiting the relationships and the power that certain people hold. It seems too easy to create your own kingdom with taxpayers' money.

And I would be remiss if I didn't say this: There were critics/local watchdogs who raised some of these same kinds of concerns when Nampa's Liberty Charter and Victory Charter schools were founded. I'm not saying things were exactly the same, but there were concerns. But I'm not rehashing all of that right now.

Idaho Code: Public Charter Schools

(3) "Founder" means a person, including employees or staff of a public charter school, who makes a material contribution toward the establishment of a public charter school in accordance with criteria determined by the board of directors of the public charter school, and who is designated as such at the time the board of directors acknowledges and accepts such contribution. The criteria for determining when a person is a founder shall not discriminate against any person on any basis prohibited by the federal or state constitutions or any federal, state or local law. The designation of a person as a founder, and the admission preferences available to the children of a founder, shall not constitute pecuniary benefits.

Criteria for revoking a charter.