Academica (charter school)

Academica came under controversy as its owners also own significant real estate assets, which houses the schools chartered by Academica, exempting them from property tax. In 2010, the owners of Academica own more than 20 companies doing business with Academica schools.[2] Moreover, it was claimed that the school boards, which approve the real estate contracts, are financially connected to Zulueta. For example, all Academica charter schools use the same lawyer to negotiate leases for land with the Zulueta land companies. That same attorney is a board member of a charter school which is managed by Academica and received $415,000 in grants and loans.[2][3]

In 2007, Miami-Dade school district auditors asked the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office to investigate a multi-million construction contract to build an Academica charter school given to a contractor which served on the same school's board.[3]

In 2013, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the US Department of Education has conducted an audit of the relationship between charter schools and ESP's, including Academica's schools in Florida, identifying related party transactions between the for-profit Academica and a real estate company that leased both buildings and security services to the schools.[4]