# Paideia Academy *Former charter school in Apple Valley, Minnesota, closed at the end of the 2015–16 school year.* Paideia Academy was a charter school in [[Apple Valley]], [[Minnesota]], in Dakota County. It closed at the end of the 2015–16 school year. Its board gave three reasons: declining enrollment, per-pupil funding below that of surrounding districts, and the school's inability to seek voter-approved operating levies or bonds.[^1] The record for this article is two entries in the project's Dakota claims-exposure matrix, dated September 2, 2026. Both entries rest on local news reporting. One also cites a statute.[^1][^2] The record contains no court filing, agency finding, audit or other primary document about the school. Neither entry alleges wrongdoing by the school.[^1][^2] ## Who Paideia Academy was a charter school in Apple Valley, a Dakota County city.[^1] The record names no officers, board members or authorizer of the school.[^1] ## When The school closed at the end of the 2015–16 school year.[^1] ## Why The matrix cites a news source for the board's three reasons:[^1] - enrollment decline; - per-pupil funding below surrounding districts; - the school's inability to seek voter-approved operating levies or bonds. The record carries the board's reasons only as that entry summarizes them. The board's own statement is not in the record.[^1] ## In the at-issue record Entry AI-Dakota-053 records the closure and the board's reasons. It rests on a single news source (hometownsource.com) and is filed under the matrix's section *III. The Fraud Ledger — Dakota County Addresses*.[^1] The entry contrasts the charter form with district schools. A charter school need not put a levy to voters, and for the same reason it cannot.[^1] Entry AI-Dakota-084 appears under the matrix's section *VI. The Money*. It states that two publicly funded school systems operate inside Dakota County. One may seek voter approval and one may not.[^2] According to the entry, the system that may not go to the voters is the one whose lease is "90 percent state-reimbursed".[^2] The entry cites news reporting and the Revisor of Statutes (revisor.mn.gov). The statute text is not in this record, so the lease-reimbursement figure is given here as the matrix's assertion.[^2] Both entries are cross-referenced to a March 2025 White House presidential action on fraud, waste and abuse. That anchor is the matrix's cross-reference. It is not a source for any fact about the school.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki project, *Dakota Claims Exposure Matrix* (Sept. 2, 2026), entry AI-Dakota-053, section *III. The Fraud Ledger — Dakota County Addresses* — records Paideia Academy's closure at the end of 2015–16 and the board-cited reasons, sourced to one news report (hometownsource.com, not in this record). The URL is the entry's White House anchor, not a source for the closure. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^2]: Minnesota wiki project, *Dakota Claims Exposure Matrix* (Sept. 2, 2026), entry AI-Dakota-084, section *VI. The Money* — sets the charter sector's lack of levy authority beside its "90 percent state-reimbursed" lease, citing hometownsource.com and revisor.mn.gov (neither in this record). The URL is the entry's White House anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/