# Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy *A December 2023 settlement between the Minnesota Attorney General and a Burnsville charter school over school funds paid to companies of its directors and officers.* On December 8, 2023, the [[Minnesota Attorney General]] announced an Assurance of Discontinuance with [[Gateway STEM Academy]], a charter school in [[Burnsville]], [[Minnesota]].[^1] The Attorney General found that the school's founder had directed nearly $300,000 in school funds to companies owned by three of the school's own directors and officers.[^1] The announcement states that the transactions "were not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board."[^1] Two of the payments are itemized: $173,602.65 to one board member's company and $117,255 to another's.[^2] The announced terms were an internal investigation coordinated with the school's charter authorizer, fiduciary-duty training for directors and officers, and a promise not to work with the named former leaders again.[^3] The project's at-issue record reads the announcement as ordering no money returned.[^4] ## What The instrument is an Assurance of Discontinuance between the Minnesota Attorney General's office and Gateway STEM Academy, announced on December 8, 2023.[^1] As the announcement describes them, its terms have three parts.[^3] - An internal investigation, coordinated with the school's charter authorizer.[^3] - Fiduciary-duty training for the school's directors and officers.[^3] - A promise not to work with the named former leaders again.[^3] These terms are as the Attorney General's announcement describes them. The record carries the announcement, not the text of the agreement itself.[^1] ## How much - **Total found:** nearly $300,000 in school funds, directed by the founder to companies owned by three of the school's directors and officers.[^1] - **Itemized payments:** $173,602.65 to one board member's company and $117,255 to another board member's company.[^2] Together the two named amounts are $290,857.65. The record does not itemize the remainder of the nearly $300,000 figure, or a payment to the third director or officer.[^2] - **Board approval:** the announcement states the transactions "were not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board."[^1] - **Money returned:** the project's at-issue record finds that no money was ordered returned in the announcement.[^4] ## In the at-issue record The project's Dakota County at-issue ledger carries the settlement as two items. Item AI-Dakota-047 records the December 8, 2023 announcement and the payment figures.[^1] Item AI-Dakota-049 records the settlement terms and the absence of an announced repayment order.[^4] The ledger pairs item 047 with a May 2026 White House presidential action on the integrity of the financial system.[^5] It pairs item 049 with a March 2025 White House presidential action on protecting the federal government's accounts against fraud, waste and abuse.[^6] These pairings are the project's own. The record does not show that either presidential action refers to Gateway STEM Academy.[^5][^6] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy* (Dec. 8, 2023) — announcement of the settlement; finding that the founder directed nearly $300,000 in school funds to companies owned by three directors and officers; the transactions "were not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board." https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^2]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy* (Dec. 8, 2023), as summarized in project dossier note 58 — $173,602.65 and $117,255 paid to companies headed by two board members. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^3]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy* (Dec. 8, 2023) — settlement terms: internal investigation coordinated with the charter authorizer, fiduciary-duty training for directors and officers, and a promise not to work with the named former leaders again. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^4]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy* (Dec. 8, 2023), as read in project at-issue item AI-Dakota-049 — no money ordered returned in the announcement. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^5]: The White House, presidential action (May 2026) — the anchor document the project pairs with at-issue item AI-Dakota-047. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/ [^6]: The White House, presidential action (March 2025) — the anchor document the project pairs with at-issue item AI-Dakota-049. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/