by David Safier
Tucson's Allsport Academy Charter School's charter should be revoked due to failing academic grades, according to Judge Thomas Shedden. The Star story gives all the necessary information but little background on the school. Here's more information based on a web search.
The school began in 2004 as a for profit corporation, Allsport Enterprises, Inc., and was granted nonprofit status by the Arizona Charter School Board in 2009, changing its name to Allsport Academy. The odd thing is, I can find no record of it filing any tax returns since it's been a nonprofit. All nonprofit tax returns should be on the NCCS website. I've never had trouble locating the forms of any nonprofit school before. It makes me wonder whether Allsport has failed to file tax returns since 2009.
Allsport has fewer than 60 students — about 55% white, 29% Hispanic and the rest listed as "unknown." According to its records, 90% of the students are on free or reduced lunch.
The school is run by Moses Montoya, listed on the school website as its Administrator and Board Chairman. Raquel Montoya is the Manager and Board Secretary Treasurer. I'm reasonably certain Raquel is Moses' wife, since, according to records I found, they are similar ages and live in the same Foothills home. Aaron Montoya, 33, used to teach at the school until he was arrested in 2010 for having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old student. I'm reasonably certain Aaron is Moses and Raquel's son. [I qualify the relationships by noting I'm "reasonably certain" because I don't have completely verifiable information.] This "All in the Family" situation is all too typical in charter schools, which are often family businesses — usually to the detriment of the students.
Allsport Academy has been in three different locations during its tenure. So far as I can tell, none of them have athletic facilities or athletic fields connected with them, even though the charter bills itself as a Sports Charter School.
A final note. It doesn't look like Allsport has amassed a great deal of equipment, and it clearly hasn't bought a building for the school. However, since the charter has been around longer than 5 years, everything it has acquired will become the property of the Montoyas when the school folds. If the Montoyas had figured out a way to buy a building using the funds they received from the state for running the school, they would have been able to keep that as well. That's one or the more jaw-dropping aspects of our charter school laws.
Thank you for this article ! Am watching the city of Phoenix council, Phoenix Industrial Authority (straw quasi government non-profit) and the Arizona State Legislature. I testified in the last legislative session against horrible Charter School Measures and tesified at Phx. City Council against charter school give aways (last session large amounts of bonds to Oro based Charter ). There are loop holes so large for charger schools that you could drive a truck through them while our public schools have to follow good laws to keep them from becoming corrupt.
Recently, watched Youtube video from New Zelend that stated Rupert Murdoch said there was over 500 billion dollars available from public monies in the U.S. for the corporate charter school movement. This is fair competition like a boxer going into the ring with boxing arm while the other boxer gets brass knuckles tucked both boxing gloves !
When charter schools have democratically locally elected parental school boards with the authority of law instead of their pathetic boards of directors who only care about their corporate profits maybe then…there will be an actual factual place for charter schools.
Thanks again, for writing this…as usual…excellent article.
Leonard Clark
We could find out what they’ve been paying themselves since they went nonprofit in 2009 if they filed the proper 990 tax forms, all of which are online, but it looks like they haven’t. Before that, when they were a for profit corporation, the amount we taxpayers gave to them in the form of salaries and profits is hidden, just as it is for the top people at the for-profit BASIS.ed and other for-profit CMOs.
I’d be interested to know what these grifters have been paying themselves. People who run “non-profit” charters often do pretty well compared to administrators in traditional public schools. → http://nydn.us/17nukMc
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