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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- When Raynesha Cummings enrolled her three teenagers in a private school, she hoped to keep them safe from COVID-19. It was small, with no frills -- there was just one teacher and the school didn't serve lunch -- but it worked for her family, at least initially.
Her son graduated in May at the top of his class, with hopes of attending a trade school. But when he started applying, schools said they would not recognize his diploma.
Then, a couple weeks later, Cummings says she discovered the teacher had been texting her 16-year-old daughter to offer money for sexually explicit photos. The teacher was arrested, and Cummings learned he previously had been accused of raping a child.
Cummings didn't know it when her kids started at Second Chance Academy, but the school had no accreditation, no approval from the state and no one supervising the teacher she left her kids with every day.
"If I had known that, I would never pay my money for them to go there," Cummings said. "I really feel like I made a big mistake."
Second Chance falls into a category of off-the-grid schools in Louisiana that operate with hardly any oversight. Formally known as "nonpublic schools not seeking state approval," most are home schools that serve a single family. But some, like Second Chance, are brick-and-mortar schoolhouses with dozens of students.
Today, the school on Renoir Avenue in Baton Rouge appears abandoned, shuttered perhaps for good after several brushes with the law. Its lone teacher is facing charges for sexual misconduct.
But the number of Louisiana children in unapproved schools -- far outside the eye of any government official who might look out for abuse, or check whether children are getting a real education -- is skyrocketing. Enrollment in such schools jumped from around 11,600 students in 2017-18 to over 21,000 this past school year, one example of the pandemic-era disengagement that has seen thousands of students nationwide leave the traditional education system.
Second Chance opened as a private school in the late 1980s, specializing in serving students expelled from public schools. Its founder, Brendia Ford, clashed repeatedly with public officials. Once, she defiantly held classes on the lawn for two weeks when the fire marshal shut off the school's power, saying it was in dangerous condition after Hurricane Katrina.
In 1996, Ford's son, Corey Nash, was arrested on charges that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old student in the school's locker room. He ultimately pleaded guilty to simple battery, a reduced charge that allowed him to continue working with children.
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education revoked the school's approval to grant state-recognized diplomas in 2000. State inspectors could neither find attendance or progress reports nor verify enrollment, according to media reports at the time.
Still, it remained open as an unapproved school. As long as the school didn't take public funding, it could operate with freedom from regulations besides the state fire code.