AG’s office investigating private all-girls high school

WENHAM — The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating complaints against the Academy at Penguin Hall, a private all-girls high school in Wenham.

Assistant Attorney General Hanne Rush on Friday confirmed the existence of an investigation in response to a public records request by The Salem News for any complaints that have been filed against the school.

In a letter, Rush said the AG’s office is withholding records because they “constitute investigatory materials related to an open investigation that reveal confidential sources,” and that disclosing the information would “cause a chilling effect on individuals to speak freely with law enforcement.”

Molly Martins, the founder and president of the Academy at Penguin Hall, confirmed that the Attorney General’s office contacted the school and requested records.

“We have provided the information that they requested and cooperated with their inquiry,” Martins said in an email. She declined to comment further.

George Balich, the chair of Penguin Hall’s board of trustees, said he was unaware of any complaints against the school. He said officials from the Attorney General’s nonprofit organizations/public charities division visited the school in December after the school was delinquent in filing its annual financial audit.

Penguin Hall provided the records and the AG’s office renewed the school’s certificate of solicitation, which charitable organizations need in order to solicit contributions, Balich said.

“I don’t want to guess what’s going on,” he said, “but if someone there (in the Attorney General’s office) thought there was a problem we probably would not have gotten that certificate.”

The Salem News reported last week the Academy at Penguin Hall, the only all-girls high school on the North Shore, is facing financial problems. The school has run up a deficit of millions of dollars since opening in 2016 and has struggled to pay its bills in recent months.

In October, the town of Wenham threatened to shut off the school’s water due to unpaid water bills, and the IRS placed a lien on school property over unpaid payroll taxes.

The Academy at Penguin Hall is an independent all-girls private school with about 120 students in grades 9-12. It operates as a 501©(3) nonprofit corporation and is required to file financial reports with the Attorney General’s nonprofit organizations/public charities division.

The division “ensures appropriate application of charitable assets, investigates allegations and initiates enforcement actions in cases of breach of fiduciary duty,” according to the AG’s website.

Penguin Hall had a negative fund balance of $6.5 million, according to the latest publicly available filing. The school has relied on millions of dollars in loans to stay afloat, including more than $2 million from Martins’ husband, Albert Martins, and his company, Martins Construction.

Penguin Hall paid Martins Construction $960,000 in fiscal 2022. Molly Martins has said the payments were for renovations and other work at the school. Al Martins is also a member of the school’s board of trustees.

Molly Martins is a former chairwoman of the Wenham Select Board.

Penguin Hall recently announced a 40% increase in tuition, to $42,800, an attempt to resolve its financial problems, and has reached out to parents for donations.

School officials have been meeting in small groups with parents about the school’s financial situation and are being “as transparent as possible,” Balich said.

“Nobody’s hiding anything,” he said. “I’m being as blunt as I can and saying, ‘We need your help.’”

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.