Texas Education Agency appoints conservator for IDEA Public Schools

WESLACO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The state appointed a management team to supervise IDEA Public Schools on Wednesday after questions surfaced about improper spending by top administrators.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced the decision on Wednesday morning.

“As you are aware, since 2021 TEA has been actively conducting investigations into numerous allegations against the charter district of financial and operational impropriety,” Morath wrote to IDEA Superintendent Jeffrey Cottrill and IDEA board President Collin M. Sewell on Wednesday, according to a letter released by the Texas Education Agency.

Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gama — who moved to the Rio Grande Valley as part of the Teach for America program — started IDEA Public Schools in 2000.

They created a rigorous curriculum, adopted a no-excuses approach to education and promised to prepare all students for college.

It worked. IDEA received national recognition and opened campuses throughout Texas.

By October 2020, the charter school system had more than 62,000 students, according to data published by the state.

Along with accolades, IDEA received scrutiny. Questions surfaced about how top administrators spent public money.

Documents released under the Texas Public Information Act showed IDEA had leased a private jet, rented a luxurious apartment in San Antonio and purchased a boutique hotel in Cameron County.

Torkelson, who served as CEO, stepped down in April 2020. IDEA provided Torkelson with a $900,000 severance package and the title “CEO Emeritus.”

CFO Wyatt Truscheit abruptly resigned three months later amid questions about his expense reports.

IDEA also received a series of anonymous emails with detailed information about improper spending by other executives.

Concerned, the IDEA board of directors hired attorney Michael McCrum of San Antonio, a former federal prosecutor, to conduct an internal audit.

McCrum completed the audit in 2021. After reviewing the findings, IDEA terminated Chief Operating Officer Irma Muñoz and Gama, who served as both CEO and superintendent.

IDEA, though, never released the audit and filed lawsuits against the Texas Attorney General’s Office to block the release of documents related to the inquiry.

Some details surfaced in a lawsuit Gama filed against IDEA in November 2022. As part of the lawsuit, IDEA admitted that:

* “Truscheit and another high-level administrator used their positions to cause IDEA to purchase charter flights and Tesla vehicles and to lease a luxury apartment in San Antonio as well as box suites at sporting events and concerts.”

* Gama “drove a luxury vehicle purchased by IDEA for her use; that she had herself purchased a box suite for her family’s use and attended concerts and sporting events (as well as travel expenses) with her family and friends using IDEA funds; that she had purchased multiple electronic devices (tablets, headphones and accessories) totaling thousands of dollars for use by her children and family; that she had IDEA pay for chartered flights and used IDEA’s resources to attend sporting events including flying her family to World Series baseball games and other personal events” and directed IDEA employees to handle personal errands.

* During negotiations between the IDEA board and Torkelson “a now former member of the Board inappropriately breached the Board’s confidentiality and attorney-client privilege, violated their duties to IDEA and communicated the Board’s confidential mediation deliberations to Torkelson, thereby compromising the mediation.”

The state assigned a monitor to keep tabs on IDEA in April 2022.

On Wednesday, as part of a settlement agreement, the state replaced the monitor with a conservator.

Unlike a monitor, who merely keeps the state informed, a conservator is charged with overseeing a school district or charter school. If the conservator disagrees with a decision made by a superintendent or a board, the conservator may overrule them.

“IDEA is pleased to have reached a settlement agreement with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the U.S. Department of Education to resolve compliance issues our organization self-reported to regulators after an internal investigation in 2021,” IDEA said in a statement. “IDEA invited the additional oversight by the TEA when self-reporting the findings of the audit and looks forward to the continued partnership moving forward.”

The charter school system also plans to return $28.7 million in public funds.

“Despite the internal upheaval several years ago and a concurrent pandemic that disrupted learning for our students, IDEA continues to see academic progress fueled by a resilient and hardworking Team & Family,” according to the statement. “Reaching settlement agreements with the Department of Education and TEA closes a difficult chapter for IDEA so we can continue to notch wins for the students that have always been central to IDEA’s mission.”