(HECHINGER REPORT) — D’Juan Hernandez, a New Orleans attorney and businessman, spent less than a year as head of a struggling local charter school called Milestone Academy. But he managed at least one significant accomplishment before resigning last month: racking up $13,000 worth of expenses on a school credit card, including $4,000 in payments to Tulane University, where his daughter attends, and $500 for plane tickets to Florida, where his family vacationed.
On the night of the Zulu Ball — his daughter was a maid in Zulu’s court — he racked up a $687 bill at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club on St. Claude Avenue. Other big-ticket items included a $224 bill at the Smith & Wollensky restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida, and hundreds of dollars on upgrades to first-class flights.
Tessa Jackson, president of the nonprofit board that governs Milestone, says that Hernandez obtained an American Express card in the school’s name without getting approval from the board.
