This source cluster materially deepens the D11 investigation in two ways.
First, the Legacy Institute / Legacy Fellowship records support a direct charter-school founder-pipeline mechanism feeding D11's June 4, 2025 approvals of East Hills Academy and Spruce Community School. The evidence is strongest because the current Legacy Fellowship page, D11 charter applications, and D11 board minutes independently point to the same mechanism.
Second, the captured Colorado Springs School of Technology board page lists Michael Gaal under Board of Directors, and the CDE April 2024 notice frames CSST as a D11 innovation-zone school with waivers and alternative governance. This corrects the earlier Gaal limit: current evidence still does not show a formal Gaal charter-school, Parents Challenge, or CSI role, but it now does show a formal CSST innovation-zone board listing.
The Other Colorado Springs, linked from the Legacy Fellowship FAQ.The Legacy Fellowship page describes the fellowship as a paid two-year training program for education leaders interested in starting a new charter school in Colorado. The same page identifies Daniel Ajamian as a fellow who received D11 approval to create East Hills Academy, and identifies Loren Reynolds as having received D11 approval to create Spruce Community School.
The D11 applications corroborate the current-page claims:
Relationship type: advocacy affiliation, advisory role, consultant relationship, charter administrative role, and charter governance formation support, depending on the exact tie. Evidence strength: direct for the existence of the fellowship and D11 application claims; unresolved for any contract, payment, or D11 procurement relationship.
D11's June 4, 2025 minutes record public hearings and action items for East Hills Academy and Spruce Community School. The minutes say Superintendent Gaal thanked Legacy Institute Fellowship for contributions to the charter applications. The board approved the East Hills application by Resolution 2025-40 and the Spruce application by Resolution 2025-41, each by a 7-0 vote.
Relationship type: charter oversight role for D11; public acknowledgement for Gaal / Legacy. Evidence strength: direct. Claim limit: the minutes do not prove that Legacy controlled the applications or the board votes.
D11 application records and the Legacy IRS filing identify a recurring Legacy board / support network:
Legacy Institute Board support section including Lance Bolton, Deborah Hendrix, Bart Holaday, Kelsey Nolan, and Ryan Trujillo.Relationship type: nonprofit affiliation / board service. Evidence strength: direct for the D11 applications' support-letter lists and for the IRS filing period; moderate for current board status unless a current Legacy board roster is captured.
The D11 applications add two different parent-advocacy links that should not be collapsed.
$12,500 grant to Colorado Parents for Quality Education for program services. The current CPQE page describes a parent-advocacy and school-family engagement mission and says CPQE was founded in Colorado Springs by Charles Hendrix.Evidence strength: direct for the application and filing facts. Claim limit: current evidence does not prove that Parents Challenge or CPQE funded, controlled, coordinated, or sponsored East Hills, Spruce, Legacy, D11, or any D11 board member. CPQE is a lead, not a D11 finding.
ProPublica and the IRS filing support Legacy Institute as a Colorado Springs 501(c)(3), EIN 82-2620763, care of Zachary McComsey, with the Tejon Street address also used in the East Hills application contact section.
The 2023 filing package supports:
Fellowship: new school incubator.$32,350, with no issue detail recovered in the current source package.Evidence strength: direct for filing fields visible in ProPublica / IRS records. Claim limit: the lobbying issue, bill, or target remains unresolved.
The CSST board page capture lists Michael Gaal under Board of Directors with the description Superintendent, Colorado Springs School District 11. The CDE April 2024 news release says the State Board unanimously approved the creation of a D11 innovation zone, that D11 would move forward with planning for CSST, that Superintendent Gaal spoke to the State Board about the proposed school, and that the innovation zone allows waivers involving performance evaluations, educator licensing, local board duties, and accepting gifts, grants, and donations. The CDE page says the zone would operate under an alternative governance structure including a board of community leaders representing focus areas.
Relationship type: board service / innovation-zone governance role. Evidence strength: direct for the current CSST page listing and direct for CDE's innovation-zone framing. Claim limit: CSST should be tracked as an innovation-zone / alternative-governance mechanism, not automatically as a charter school, and the current source set does not prove personal financial benefit, improper influence, or intent.
| source node | target node | tie type | time range | mechanism | possible flow type | observable effect | evidence strength | claim limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy Institute / Legacy Fellowship | Daniel Ajamian / East Hills Academy | fellowship / advisory / planning support | 2024-2026 application period; opening target 2026 | Paid two-year founder fellowship, school visits, expert meetings, application consulting | People, training, charter application capacity, legitimacy | D11 approved East Hills application 7-0 on June 4, 2025 | direct | Does not prove D11 contract, payment, or Legacy control over vote |
| Legacy Institute / Legacy Fellowship | Loren Koszowski / Spruce Community School | fellowship / advisory / governance formation support | 2024-2026 application period; opening target 2026 | 24-month fellowship, school visits, leadership training, board-candidate interviews, site visits | People, training, governance capacity, legitimacy | D11 approved Spruce application 7-0 on June 4, 2025 | direct | Legacy page uses Loren Reynolds; identity/name change needs direct corroboration |
| D11 board | East Hills Academy | charter oversight role / new charter approval | 2025-06-04 | Resolution 2025-40 | Charter authorization authority, enrollment opportunity, public funding flow once operating | Application approved 7-0 | direct | Approval does not prove adverse intent or successful implementation |
| D11 board | Spruce Community School | charter oversight role / new charter approval | 2025-06-04 | Resolution 2025-41 | Charter authorization authority, enrollment opportunity, public funding flow once operating | Application approved 7-0 | direct | Approval does not prove adverse intent or successful implementation |
| Michael Gaal | Legacy Institute Fellowship | public acknowledgement | 2025-06-04 | Superintendent report / board discussion during charter actions | Legitimacy, public credit | Gaal thanked Legacy Institute Fellowship for contributions to the applications | direct | Not evidence of employment, board service, payment, or control |
| Legacy Institute Board | East Hills and Spruce applications | public support / nonprofit board support letter | 2025-03 to 2025-06 application packet | Board support letter and listed support section | Legitimacy, network endorsement | D11 applications included Legacy board support material | direct for application record; moderate for current roster | Need current board roster / minutes for current status |
| Legacy Institute | Colorado Parents for Quality Education | grant relationship | fiscal year ending 2023-08 | IRS Schedule I grant | Money | $12,500 program-services grant |
direct | CPQE link to D11 policy remains a lead, not a finding |
| East Hills Academy | Parents Challenge | community partnership / founding-board tie | 2025 application | Parent Empowerment Sessions; Catherine Hendrix board listing | Parent outreach, legitimacy, program services | Partnership language and board member role appear in D11 application | direct | Does not prove Parents Challenge funding or D11 board-member coordination |
| Spruce application / Legacy board list | Deborah Hendrix / Parents Challenge | nonprofit board / school-choice network adjacency | 2025 application | Legacy Institute Board support section | Legitimacy, advocacy network | Deborah Hendrix listed with Parents Challenge title in support section | direct for application record | Does not prove Parents Challenge as sponsor or funder |
| Michael Gaal | CSST | board service / innovation-zone governance | current page captured 2026-04-23; CDE approval 2024-04-11 | CSST board listing; D11 innovation-zone alternative-governance structure | Authority, legitimacy, governance, waivers | CSST page lists Gaal under Board of Directors | direct | Treat as innovation-zone governance, not proof of charter role or improper influence |