“STEP Academy is in a financial crisis,” IQS warned in the letter. “If the board does not take sufficient and responsible action, the school will be unable to continue operations.”

One of the authorizer’s concerns was resolved Thursday night when the board accepted the resignation of superintendent Mustafa Ibrahim, who served as the school’s top administrator since 2012. Two STEP board members also stepped down.

IQS first placed STEP on probation for contract violations in 2020. Most of its complaints have centered on Ibrahim’s actions, with IQS accusing him of operating without proper board oversight and making unilateral decisions that have sometimes hurt the school.

The situation didn’t reach crisis levels, however, until the costs of the school’s 2022 expansion into Burnsville wiped out STEP’s financial reserves. Its fund balance, the most critical indicator of a charter school’s financial health, fell from $2.7 million in 2022 to $54,461 in 2023, state records show.

In a 2023 letter to the school, IQS said STEP “significantly overspent” on renovating the Burnsville facility. It alleged that Ibrahim violated procurement rules by entering into budget-busting agreements without first obtaining board approval.

In a statement to the Star Tribune, Ibrahim blamed STEP’s financial problems on IQS. He said the nonprofit has abused its power by creating “unnecessary barriers and distractions” that have destabilized the school. Ibrahim accused IQS of attempting to “wrest control” of the school and replace its Black leaders with “hand-picked white professionals.”

A judge acquitted a 37-year-old man of threatening to harm St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Maplewood Mall and concluded that the defendant’s intention was to buy the shopping center and run for mayor.

Andrew Thomas Grzywinski, of St. Paul, was found not guilty late Thursday afternoon by Ramsey County District Judge John Guthmann on two counts of threats of violence.

The suspicion took root when Grzywinski sent a former girlfriend a text on Dec. 27, 2022, showing an assault-style gun on a window ledge, with a message that read, “Maplewood Mall is my idea, and Mayor of St. Paul is an end goal,” according to the charges filed in December 2022.

The woman alerted Woodbury police because Grzywinski was staying at a hotel in that city. A Woodbury police investigator said Grzywinski had been hospitalized Dec. 15-22, 2022, in Pensacola, Fla., “on a mental health hold,” the charges read, and a doctor there said Grzywinski’s threats should be taken seriously.

Woodbury police then notified their counterparts in Maplewood and St. Paul, leading to his arrest and charges.

In returning his verdicts in writing, Guthmann said, “The text message does not state or imply a threat to commit an act of violence. There is nothing expressly or impliedly threatening about the words ‘Maplewood is my idea,’ and the existence of a gun in the background of a panorama photo of a hotel room containing many other objects does not reasonably change the character of those words.”

The judge continued, “To conclude that defendant’s text was intended as an express or implied threat to the Maplewood Mall or anyone inside is entirely speculative and without support in the evidence.”

Guthmann’s filing noted that Grzywinski, who owns his own heating and cooling business, was not mulling or making any threats against the mall or the mayor but had been telling various people close to him that he wanted to buy the mall and run for mayor.

Johnson said this week he felt a victim advocate position was important, but needed to “ask the hard questions” first.

“You have to be careful of what you take on,” he said, when potentially adding employees, considering potential future budget cuts. “I explore all options before jumping into something and that’s what we did with that position.”

After Holtberg’s phone call with Johnson, she said she sought advice from others and brought the opportunity and Johnson’s initial response to former Mayor Emily Larson. Larson confirmed this week that she then directed Johnson to apply for the grant. Funding was awarded to the city, and the position remains grant-funded today. Johnson said he doesn’t think Larson told him to apply, but said her administration was part of the discussion.

“We got it done, and we got it done in a way that’s stuck with the city,” he said. “Just because you ask hard questions doesn’t mean that it’s bad … that’s what I do, and as judge I’ll ask hard questions.”

Retired city prosecutor Mary Asmus said recently that Johnson told her at the time that if that position was added, he would probably need to dismiss someone from the office’s criminal division. This was at a time when criminal caseloads were high, she said. Johnson said he doesn’t recall saying that, but noted that grant funding isn’t guaranteed to last, inevitably affecting budgets and staffing.

“I don’t think he understood the importance of a victim services coordinator to the prosecution of a domestic violence case,” Asmus said, and “he was the first Duluth City Attorney in four decades who had never prosecuted criminal cases for our office.”