BATON ROUGE — The new board operating the Impact Charter School in Baker is moving to withdraw a federal lawsuit filed by the facility's previous director against the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

BESE in February had voted to remove Impact Charter's previous board and replace it with seven new members. The new leaders placed executive director Chakesha Scott on administrative leave, and she subsequently sued in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge. 

Despite no longer being in charge, Scott disrupted school operations, the new board said in its court filing.

"Although it cannot be denied that the school is facing difficulties in operations and access to some financial systems, it is evident that this harm has been caused by the interference of Ms. Scott and her continuous intentional disruptions, rather than the Board of Directors of the organization," the new board wrote in paperwork filed April 1. It said it fired Scott on March 7 after continued problems.

Less than two weeks after the new board filed its court papers, Scott moved to evict students from its campus, where she remains as the registered agent for Friends of Impact Charter School, the school's landlord. The board later moved students to a building in the Baker School District.

The new panel asked for permission to withdraw Scott's lawsuit and substitute alternate paperwork in which it acknowledges BESE had a right to reconstitute the board because of Impact's poor performance. A federal magistrate on Tuesday approved the change.

The new Impact board's court filing agreed that BESE could intervene where there are "significant governance and compliance failures."

State auditors in February said Scott had diverted around $2.5 million in school funds toward cars, trips and luxury items for her personal use; Scott said the auditors cherry-picked items to cast her in a negative light, and sued BESE after it reconstituted the board.

Lawmakers last year gave BESE the right to change charter school board members when problems exist. "It is the preferred alternative to revoking the charter completely, which would result in the closure of the school," Impact's revised lawsuit said.

The new board said Scott's lawsuit included "no factual detail" and that she had no chance of winning her lawsuit. It also said that lawyer Ron Haley, had pursued the initial case "as the unauthorized representative on behalf of an unauthorized group of people who now constitute an unauthorized board. This group is actively working against the organization and the school."