State report shows unusual activity at shuttered Goodyear charter school

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - There are still many questions as to why a West Valley charter school abruptly closed.

Since the closure, students and staff at the Discovery Creemos Academy were left hanging. A look at the school's finances, however, is helping to paint a better picture of what was going on, behind the scenes.

"It could really influence how charters are run in the future here in Arizona," said teacher Leia Donovan.

The annual report filed by the school at the end of the 2016-2017 school year shows a ledger that's out of whack, with $1.4 million, about 43 percent of the year's budget, spent on Daniel Hughes' administration.

"Most large school districts in the state that have good programs are probably about 10 to 12 percent on the administration," said Chuck Essigs with the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.

Essigs is a business economics expert, and said his review indicates something he's never seen before, with the school spending more on administration than on classrooms ($1.1 million).

"They're one of the only schools that I've ever heard of that actually spends more dollars on administration than instruction," said Essigs.

The school claimed $8 million in assets, but carried a debt of nearly $10 million. A page in the report shows that during the school year, Hughes paid off only $18,000 of that multi-million dollar debt.

"These folks are living lives of luxury off of our tax dollars, off of grant funding," said Quacy Smith.

The closure was set in motion, after Hughes claimed security concerns were the reason for the Friday and Monday shutdown.

Text messages obtained does show Hughes referring to someone at the school on Thursday. Minutes later, however, he asks permission to park moving trucks, with the intent on being out by Monday. Surveillance video shows moving trucks moving the Hughes family out of their million-dollar home.

It was Monday night that parents and staff received the final word that closed school for good.

FOX 10 Phoenix has reached out to Tanisha Weaver, the schools HR Director before it closed, for comment. She has yet to respond.