Ford Raptors, a ‘life coach,’ iPhones: Audit alleges wild spending, fraud at Madera school

Nearly $38,000 went to his daughter’s higher education expenses. Two Ford F-150 Raptors for his sons cost nearly $80,000.

Six “life coaching” sessions for eighth-graders racked up a $12,000 bill.

Those are some of the findings in an audit report that concludes $1.06 million in public funds were potentially misused between 2016 and 2020 at Ezequiel Tafoya Alvarado Academy — a Madera charter school where more than 90% of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged. The report ties the alleged misspending to the school’s co-founder and former executive director, Nicolas Retana.

John McClure, the school’s current executive director, said in a news release Sept. 21 that he filed a police report related to some of the audit’s findings three years ago. The Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, a state-funded agency that provides financial guidance to local educational agencies, initiated the audit in 2021. It looked at nepotism, procedures of the school’s Board of Trustees, expenditures and more.

“There is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that fraud, misappropriation of funds and/or assets, or other illegal fiscal activities may have occurred in the specific areas reviewed,” states the report dated Aug. 31.

McClure said he could not comment directly on the matter due to the expectation that litigation is coming.

“I can assure you that these issues all stopped when I took over as Executive Director and will never happen again,” McClure said in the release.

Retana was fired in January 2020 after allegations that he physically abused students.

On Friday, he told The Bee that the audit report’s findings are simply “not true” and said racism was behind the report: “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Retana said in a phone interview.

Madera charter school executive director on leave after alleged abuse of students

Sons get Ford Raptors, daughter gets master’s degree

Charter funds were used to make payments totaling $37,563 to colleges between 2016 and 2018, according to the report. Retana’s daughter held several communications positions at the school before being hired as a teacher in 2016.

“Interviews with charter staff indicated that these charges were for (Retana’s) daughter’s college education,” the report states, adding that it found no charter policy that deals with employee educational reimbursements.

Retana said otherwise, insisting that policy allowed teachers seeking master’s degrees to have their education paid for.

“Every teacher on campus had the same opportunity,” he said.

The school responded to the Bee’s request to see the policy with an email that states “there are no employee education reimbursement polices from before 2020.”

The audit found Retana’s daughter was issued a gas card that was used to pay for $2,437 worth of fuel. The report alleges that over $4,500 in charter funds were used to pay for her personal Volkswagen’s maintenance and repairs.

Retana said his daughter’s gas card was justified because he was having her come work with him at the school at different hours of the day. Paying for maintenance and repairs on employees’ personal vehicles was an occasional thing, he added.

His daughter’s iPhone XS Max and Apple Watch – a total cost of $1,749.98 to the charter – were purchases meant to run the school more efficiently, he said.

“It’s not uncommon that you buy your staff iPads, computers, Apple Watches, if you want to communicate with people,” Retana said. “You’re running a business. You need to communicate 24/7.”

Retana’s sons – referred to in the report as “Son #1” and “Son #2” – were both hired as custodians and later on became the school’s night security officers. Both have a history of criminal charges, including DUI, the report states. Both also received gas cards from the charter and both were issued Ford F-150 Raptors.

The audit found that both of them crashed their trucks – each of which cost about $40,000 – and that one of them used his in a hit-and-run. Retana said his sons fell into drugs, but that he attempted to foster a work environment where employees were not given up on if they had issues. He added that they eventually had to be let go.

“As with Son #1, (the auditing agency) could not determine why Son #2 was issued a vehicle to perform his duties for a charter school having only one, eight-acre site,” the report states.

Retana said those trucks were bought in order for the charter to acquire assets that would allow it to get loans.

State records show “Son #2” is currently serving time in a state prison for an assault charge from 2021. “Son #1” pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor vandalism charge that same year and was sentenced to 30 days in county jail, according to court records.

Madera charter director leaves job amid school battery investigation, email shows

Thousands spent in Los Banos, on ‘life coach’

Retana’s charter cards made payments from 2016 to 2019 totaling more than $8,000 in Los Banos, but at stores that have locations in Madera. According to the report, a former employee with who Retana was allegedly romantically involved — the audit states that it confirmed this with electronic communication between the two — lived in Los Banos.

The former executive director said he was the one who lived in Los Banos. However, an email from Retana to charter staff shows that his home address was in Madera in 2017.

Several thousands were spent at Home Depot. The auditing agency “could not determine the educational purpose of the expenditures,” the report states.

Retana said the purchases were justified because the school was doing a lot of construction at the time.

An invoice found in the report shows the school’s board approved a $12,000 payment to “Associate #2” for six “8th Grade Life Coaching Workshops” in 2019. The report states that interviews with staff revealed Retana may have been romantically involved with the life coach — a claim he responded to with a hard “no.”

The report found that the life coach did not possess any type of teaching or counseling credential in California. Retana said a credentialed counselor is not what he was going for.

“I just wanted someone who was going to be able to do to deal with the eighth-graders, that they would like and that they could work with,” he said.

Retana said he was displeased with the report’s mention of “Associate #2” calling herself a former porn star on her website. Her website today describes her a “relationship coach” and “sex and intimacy expert.”

The charter school’s Board of Trustees

A review of board agendas and minutes shows credit and debit card expenses were regularly approved. The charter was audited yearly, and Peter Laub, an executive vice president of EdTec, would regularly attend board meetings to provide financial updates, minutes show.

Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, wrote in an email that EdTec is a bookkeeping-type service for charter schools. The investigation included interviews with EdTec.

“They don’t govern or make decisions but handle the charter’s financial transactions according to established practices and procedures,” Fine wrote. “Booking a transaction does not condone a transaction, only accounts for it.”

Board meetings were short. Minutes show that several meetings between 2016 and 2019 lasted fewer than 30 minutes. Often, expenditures were approved as part of the consent agenda, meaning several items were approved in one vote. Available meeting minutes for the time do not detail discussion of what was passed.

What’s next for Retana, charter school?

McClure said in the school’s news release that no one mentioned in the report is associated with the charter today.

“Further, I cannot ignore that such a substantial amount of money was not spent for the benefit of the students of our school,” he said in the release. “For this reason, the (school board) and I are renewing our call for appropriate law enforcement agencies to review the matters contained in this report and hold those responsible accountable.”

McClure added that the school is financially stable and will not see reductions in its programs.

Retana said he is not worried about the investigation, and will likely sue for defamation.

“I’ve always been a target,” Retana added. He argued that he is facing racism because he is a Chicano who has spoken out about the lack of effort schools put into Latino students.

“I created a charter school,” Retana said. “I kicked a-- more than the schools in Madera Unified. You think they were happy about that?”

The county superintendent’s office said in a news release that it has notified the Madera County District Attorney and the IRS, among other agencies.