State officials ordered Sa'Rai and Zigler Upper Excellerated Academy out of Milwaukee's voucher program Friday, citing possible fraud in student applications.

The school, which has received upwards of $700,000 in voucher payments from the state over the last two years, was featured prominently in a Journal Sentinel series on school vouchers last year.

In an article on the more questionable schools in the program, the newspaper reported that Clifford Zigler, the administrator of the school, had an expired license as a substitute teacher. Sa'Rai Nance, the principal, said she had worked as a teachers aide in Milwaukee and Chicago before taking the reins at Sa'Rai and Zigler.

In an order kicking the school out of the program, state officials said they noticed in March that student applications submitted by the school appeared to have forged signatures. The voucher program gives low-income families tuition vouchers to attend private schools. Sa'Rai and Zigler is finishing its second year in the program.

Zigler denied that the school had forged any signatures, calling the state's accusations "a smokescreen" to cover up the fact that "once again, we are a black school being targeted."

Earlier this month, leaders of a half-dozen voucher schools accused the state Department of Public Instruction of targeting black schools for closure, a claim that Deputy State Superintendent Tony Evers says he categorically denies.

After suspecting forgery, department officials asked for the original student applications for the families attending Sa'Rai and Zigler using vouchers. But, according to state officials, the school submitted only 39 out of 90 original student applications, and failed to provide any evidence that it had checked W-2 or other forms to ensure that the families met the income guidelines of the program. To be eligible, family income must not exceed 175% of the poverty level.

State officials allege that, in one case, the school accepted voucher money for a student in a family of three with a total income of $50,900, but the maximum income for a family of three to be eligible in 2005 was less than $29,000.

But Zigler argued that the department decided to give his school the boot to avoid paying Sa'Rai and Zigler $57,000 he claims is overdue.

"When it comes time to pay us this money, they come up with all these reasons to keep from paying," he said. Zigler added that many of the original student applications appear to have been stolen from a secretary's drawer in the school, and that school officials have repeatedly told the state they are working to supply necessary documentation.

Evers said the state is not trying to kick the school out to avoid paying out money.

"Any school that finds itself in this kind of predicament is afforded all kinds of due process," he said. "If there are indeed disputes of fact, that will get resolved. But we can only deal with the facts in front of us. And, in this case, there are none.

"I feel badly that this has become an issue of African-American schools and the DPI, because the fact is that we have an obligation to verify application materials and make sure they are appropriate," Evers added.

Sa'Rai and Zigler is the fifth school ordered out of the voucher program this school year. In the two previous years, four other voucher schools were closed by the DPI or a judge during the school year. All were operated by African-Americans and served mostly African-American students.

Sa'Rai and Zigler is located at 1115 S. 7th St. in a worn building more than 125 years old, owned by St. Patrick's Congregation. During a visit to the school last year, Nance told a reporter that she decided to start the school on God's advice.

"I was praying and God told me to open a business with Cliff," she said.

She asked, " 'A shelter?' He said, 'No, a school.' "

Nance said last year that "Upper" refers to "the upper room where Jesus prayed," and "Excellerated" is a fusion word short for anything that starts with excel.

According to the state, voucher students' family income cannot exceed 175% of the federal poverty level.

In 2005, the eligibility cutoff for a family of three was less than $29,000.

Authorities allege that the income of one family of three accepted to the school's voucher program was $50,900.