# Gateway STEM *Charter school in Burnsville, Minnesota, party to a 2023 Assurance of Discontinuance with the Minnesota Attorney General.* Gateway STEM Academy is a charter school serving grades K–8 in [[Burnsville]], [[Minnesota]]. Federal school data for 2024–25 report 121 students, of whom 111 were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.[^1] On December 8, 2023, the [[Minnesota Attorney General]] entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with the school.[^2] The project's source notes summarize the Attorney General's release as concerning nearly $300,000. That sum includes payments of $173,602.65 and $117,255 to companies headed by two board members, transactions the release describes as "not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board."[^2] The [[Star Tribune]] reported the matter as a settlement of alleged misuse of funds. The paper identified the school's authorizer as Pillsbury United Communities.[^3] The school also appears in one item of the project's at-issue record. That item places Gateway STEM within a sector-wide governance figure, which it attributes to a Star Tribune review. The record does not contain that review.[^4] ## Who - Gateway STEM Academy is a K–8 charter school in Burnsville.[^1] - The Minnesota Attorney General is the counterparty to the December 8, 2023 Assurance of Discontinuance.[^2] - The Star Tribune identifies Pillsbury United Communities as the school's authorizer.[^3] - The two board members whose companies received the payments are not named in the record.[^2] ## What - The instrument is an [[Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy]], issued by the Attorney General's office.[^2] - According to the release as summarized in the record, the matter concerned payments to companies headed by two board members. The release states those transactions were "not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board."[^2] - The Star Tribune's report characterizes the resolution as a settlement of alleged misuse of funds.[^3] ## When - The Assurance of Discontinuance is dated December 8, 2023.[^2] - The enrollment figures are for the 2024–25 school year.[^1] ## Where - The school is located in Burnsville, Minnesota.[^1] - The project's at-issue record files the school under Dakota County addresses.[^4] ## How much - The Attorney General's release, as summarized in the record, describes nearly $300,000 at issue.[^2] - The release identifies two payments, of $173,602.65 and $117,255, to companies headed by two board members.[^2] ## How many - The school enrolled 121 students in grades K–8 in 2024–25.[^1] - Of those students, 111 were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.[^1] - The release refers to two board members.[^2] ## In the at-issue record At-issue item AI-Dakota-052 says a Star Tribune review found that 53 of 91 charter school compliance reviews in the past five years "documented significant governance problems." The item calls this a 58 percent failure rate in "the state's own oversight sample."[^4] The item names Gateway STEM as one Burnsville school and argues from the rate that the school "was not an outlier."[^4] The item rests on a single news source. Its anchor is a March 2025 presidential action titled *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse*, which does not itself report the 53-of-91 figure.[^4] The record documents the Attorney General's 2023 settlement with the school.[^2] The record does not establish the review's methodology, its date, or whether Gateway STEM was among the 91 reviews counted.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: National Center for Education Statistics, *Gateway STEM Academy school detail, 2024–25* — establishes the school's K–8 grade span, enrollment of 121 students, and 111 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=2700445&ID=270044505138 [^2]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy* (Dec. 8, 2023) — establishes the date and parties of the Assurance, the nearly $300,000 at issue, the $173,602.65 and $117,255 payments to companies headed by two board members, and the release's statement that the transactions were not approved by the board. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^3]: Star Tribune, report on the Attorney General's settlement with Gateway STEM Academy (date not in record) — reports the settlement as resolving alleged misuse of funds and identifies the authorizer as Pillsbury United Communities. https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-attorney-general-keith-ellison-gateway-stem-academy-burnsville-settle-alleged-misuse-funds/600326049 [^4]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, item AI-Dakota-052 (Dakota package, *Dakota Claims Exposure Matrix*, 2026-09-02) — summarizes a Star Tribune review of charter school compliance reviews; no URL for that review is in the record. The item's anchor is The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (Mar. 2025), which is cited here only as the anchor and does not establish the 53-of-91 figure. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/