# Athlos Academy *Charter school in Minnesota, referenced in the at-issue record.* Athlos Academy is a [[Minnesota]] charter school that appears in the project's Stearns package. Charter schools in the state operate under [[Minn. Stat. ch. 124E]], the chapter that governs charter school authorizers and their statutory power over whether a school continues.[^1] The state's charter instrument dates from 1991. That year, Senator Ember Reichgott Junge (DFL-New Hope) was the lead Senate author, and Gov. Arne Carlson (R) signed the law on June 4.[^2] The project's at-issue item AI-Stearns-017 is tagged to Athlos and classed as an "authorizer-fired" counter-case. It records a charter school that fell short on reading proficiency, on performance standards and on finances. Its authorizer declined to renew the charter, and the school closed.[^1] The project records the item as a case in which the renewal power under chapter 124E was exercised, kept with the same rigor as its records of oversight failures.[^3] ## Who The project's records identify Athlos Academy as a charter school and file its at-issue item in the Stearns package, with the tags "athlos," "authorizer-fired" and "counter-case".[^3] Under [[Minn. Stat. ch. 124E]], the authorizer is the body that holds statutory power over a charter school's continuation.[^1] The record as compiled does not name the school's authorizer, its board members or its administrators. The chartering law was a product of both parties. The project's time table credits Gov. Rudy Perpich's school-choice agenda of 1985 with laying groundwork for the 1991 law.[^4] The [[Minnesota Legislature]] debated the bill in April 1991 with a DFL lead Senate author, and a Republican governor signed it.[^2] ## When - 1985: Perpich's school-choice agenda, as described by an education-policy organization's history of chartering, lays groundwork for the later law.[^4] - April 1991: The [[Minnesota Legislature]] debates the charter school bill, with Reichgott Junge as lead Senate author.[^2] - June 4, 1991: Gov. Carlson signs the law, enacted as 1991 Session Laws, chapter 265. The project's time table records it as the nation's first charter school law.[^2] - January 8, 2002: The federal No Child Left Behind Act (H.R. 1, 107th Congress) is signed, imposing federal education mandates on Minnesota schools, charters included.[^5] The at-issue item carries no date for the closure or for the renewal decision.[^3] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. The release uses the United States' term "Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime", and Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^6] The record does not connect that pending action to Athlos Academy or to charter renewal decisions. ## How The at-issue item records the following measures that preceded non-renewal:[^3] - Reading proficiency fell from 27% to 14% over three years. - The school met 63% of performance standards, against a 70% renewal threshold. The authorizer then declined renewal, and the school closed. Chapter 124E supplies the authorizer's power to make that decision.[^1] The record does not establish whether the 70% threshold is set by statute or by the authorizer's own contract or policy. ## How much The at-issue item records a projected deficit of $800,000 at the school.[^3] State law provides charter school building lease aid under [[§ 124E.22]], set at the lesser of 90 percent of approved cost or a per-pupil-unit cap.[^7] The Office of the Legislative Auditor has published an evaluation report on charter schools.[^8] For Carver County, the project's dossier reports that it found no accessible recipient-level file naming lease-aid recipients or amounts.[^7] The record carries no lease-aid figure for Athlos Academy. ## In the at-issue record Item AI-Stearns-017 is filed under the Stearns package. The item lists two underlying sources, one news and one statute, from the domains revisor.mn.gov and startribune.com.[^1] Its anchor reference is the March 2025 presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*. The project cites that order as the counter-case anchor, not as a source for the school's figures.[^3] The project's dossier also cites a [[Star Tribune]] report on a [[St. Cloud]] charter closure. The report states that a charter school across town leased the closed school's 87,000-square-foot building with a purchase option. It also states that the other charter absorbed roughly one-third of the closed school's 60-person staff, including its former executive director.[^9] The dossier note does not name the closed school, and the record does not establish that the report concerns Athlos Academy. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes, chapter 124E* (current) — governs charter schools and the authorizer's statutory power over a school's continuation. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E/full [^2]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *1991 Session Laws, chapter 265* (1991) — enactment of Minnesota's charter school law; lead Senate author Reichgott Junge (DFL), signed by Gov. Carlson (R) June 4, 1991. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1991/0/Session+Law/Chapter/265/ [^3]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — anchor reference of at-issue item AI-Stearns-017 (Stearns package; source RESEARCH_Fraud_Charter_Lewis.md ¶19), which records the 27%-to-14% reading figure, the 63% versus 70% standards figure, the $800,000 projected deficit, non-renewal and closure. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^4]: Education Evolving, *History and Origins of Chartering* — Perpich's 1985 school-choice agenda as groundwork for the 1991 law. https://www.educationevolving.org/resources/history-and-origins-of-chartering [^5]: U.S. Congress, *H.R. 1, 107th Congress (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)* (signed Jan. 8, 2002) — federal education mandates. https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/1 [^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title; certification by Attorney General Bondi as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^7]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 124E.22* (current) — charter school building lease aid, the lesser of 90 percent of approved cost or the per-pupil-unit cap. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E.22 [^8]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division, *Charter Schools* (evaluation report). https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/charterschools.pdf [^9]: Star Tribune, *One St. Cloud charter school closes, another takes over its building, absorbs many staff, students* — the 87,000-square-foot building lease with purchase option; about one-third of a 60-person staff absorbed. https://www.startribune.com/one-st-cloud-charter-school-closes-another-takes-over-its-building-absorbs-many-staff-students/601378030