{
  "id": 16814911,
  "title": "$44 million online charter school fraud trial begins in federal court",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/44-million-online-charter-school-fraud-trial-begins-in-federal-court",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-27T23:01:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2026/10/27/indiana-virtual-school-fraud-trial-begins/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Officials are beginning a $44 million fraud trial in federal court against Phillip Holden, the former director of Indiana Virtual School. Holden is accused of inflating enrollment numbers at the online charter school to siphon per-pupil funding from Indiana. His role in the scheme was overseen by school founder Thomas Stoughton, who has already pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Former school superintendent Percy Clark also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to repay around $1.3 million. The trial, which has been delayed, will focus on the management of Indiana Virtual School (IVS). Holden, who faced 17 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy, allegedly inflated enrollment numbers by re-enrolling students who had withdrawn and keeping a separate spreadsheet of actively enrolled students to pay teachers only for those who were actually attending classes. The allegations come after a 2017 Chalkbeat investigation found IVS with ballooning enrollment, one teacher for every 222 students, and financial conflicts of interest. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has also filed a separate $154 million lawsuit against IVS, IVPA, and their officers.",
  "summary": "Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat’s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here and checking the box next to our name Fall guy. That’s how attorneys for Phillip Holden, the former director of the Indiana Virtual School, described Holden’s role in a $44 million scheme to inflate enrollment numbers at the online…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}