After discipline, public school with ties to polygamous Kingston group addresses the elephant in the room

This story is part two of a three-part series, FOX 13 Investigates: Administrators Expelled.

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Vanguard Academy is addressing the elephant in the room, arguing that the public charter school is being punished and discriminated against for polygamy.

Charles Reynolds, the school’s director, published a letter to families expressing disappointment with the Utah State Charter School Board’s decision to place the school on probation. Probation is typically the final step taken by the SCSB before shutdown, an option the state will consider in three months.

Timeline

FOX 13 News first exposed the school’s social and financial ties to the polygamous Kingston group in 2020 after receiving information that the student body was 100% white. Our investigation further revealed how hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were being spent by the school on Kingston-affiliated businesses.

In response, the SCSB launched an investigation in 2021, reaching many of the same conclusions. They placed Vanguard Academy on “warning status.”

For more than a year, the SCSB and Vanguard Academy discussed how to address the school's “deficiencies.”

In 2022, Vanguard Academy promised to hire a new director and new board members without conflicts of interest. A FOX 13 News investigation in May discovered those statements were untrue; the school continued to defy the state’s orders by appointing family members.

Some lawmakers questioned whether the SCSB was doing enough to hold Vanguard Academy accountable, hinting at the possibility of a legislative audit.

“All public charter schools ought to be held to the same standards, and to the degree that Vanguard Academy is not meeting those standards, it should be held accountable,” said Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan in May. “It really is up to the State Charter School Board to take a crack at it. If they’re failing in their job, then we need to know that too.”

On Monday, the SCSB downgraded Vanguard Academy from “warning status” to “probation.”

The SCSB also voted to remove and replace all nine of Vanguard Academy’s board members, appoint an interim director, and appoint a new finance officer.

The new administrators are likely to be chosen by the state within the next few weeks and confirmed in September.

Separation of Church and State

For more than a year, members of the SCSB have been tiptoeing around the topic of religion.

The school’s religious ties were not cited as a reason to place the school on probation, although the SCSB has made broad references to “an overarching problem” that might be representative of a “closed society.”

Brooke Anderson, a data analyst who has been tracking the school, believes the SCSB is making a mistake by ignoring the elephant in the room.

The Kingston group has been classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "hate group."

“I’m surprised things weren’t done sooner,” Anderson said. “This is a school that is run by a closed society, only for their own children, their own purposes, and their own profit, and that’s what’s concerning to me.”

Shanell DeRieux, a former member of the Kingston group, has attended multiple SCSB meetings and wondered why the state seemingly shies away from discussing the religion she was raised in. She has been vocal about her concerns with the Kingston group, also known as Davis County Cooperative Society, or “the Order.”

In response, the Kingston group has labeled her as “exploitative” to plural families.

Similarly, the group refers to Anderson as “bigoted” and accused FOX 13 News of publishing a “pattern of false and hateful reporting.”

“People who leave the group and publicly talk about it are automatically evil: ‘They’re enemies. They’re demons. They’re going to hell now. They’re turning away from God. They’re betraying us,’” DeRieux described. “For the school to have to replace their board members? I’m thrilled about that... Hopefully it forces them to be more transparent.”

DeRieux also noticed how each of the four representatives in attendance for Vanguard Academy were related to the group’s prophet, Paul Kingston.

“One’s his son (John Williams). One’s his wife (Grace Mitchell). One’s his brother-in-law (Charles Reynolds), and one’s his half-brother (Kent Johnson).”

David Mortensen, an attorney for the school, defended the Davis County Cooperative Society as “similar to a bank or credit union,” not a religious institution.

The SCSB disputed that characterization, noting the lack of federal oversight.

DeRieux said she still hasn’t been allowed to obtain the money owed to her when she worked for the Order.

According to the Davis County Cooperative Society website, membership in the cooperative is “no different than two individuals paying tithing to the same church... the DCCS strongly opposes this type of discrimination against our members.”

The website routinely defends plural marriages and explains how the group’s origins are rooted in practices such as polygamy that were abandoned by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I question why we’re walking on eggshells for something that is published and known,” Anderson said. “It’s not like very little is known about this group. A lot has been published about the Kingstons, and the Order, and the Davis County Cooperative Society... They’re the ones bringing it up, which is intriguing. It’s almost like they want to acknowledge, ‘Yes, we are a religious group running a school for members of our own religion.’”

Vanguard Academy was previously cited for advertising entrance to the gym for only members of the Kingston group; “you must be a member of the LDCC in order to use the gym facility.”

LDCC stands for the Latter-day Church of Christ, a corporate name for the Kingston group’s church.

The SCSB considered the deficiency “resolved” once the discriminative message was removed.

They claimed they did not know what “LDCC” stood for.

Vanguard Academy’s previous director, Suzanne Owen, lied to FOX 13 News about her involvement in the Kingston group.

“Well, I’ve heard of them,” Owen said in December 2020.

“But you’re not familiar with it?” asked FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.

“No,” Owen responded. “Well, like I say, this is a public charter school.”

Sources within the Kingston group later confirmed Owen is married to Hyrum Kingston, the prophet’s brother.

Following the Money

Despite being placed on “warning status” and eventually probation, Vanguard Academy continued funneling hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to Kingston businesses.

The practice continues to this day, although the school’s incoming board will likely reexamine Vanguard Academy’s existing vendor contracts.

For example, according to Lambert, Vanguard Academy spent a disproportionate amount of money on school meals.

Compared to an average public school? Not double. Not triple. Not quadruple.

In 2021, Vanguard Academy spent 14 times the Utah public school average, according to the SCSB.

Premier Catering & Food Service, the school’s vendor, has direct ties to the Kingston group.

Anderson said she was also shocked to learn Vanguard Academy spends less on teaching children compared to most public schools.

Instead, large sums of money go toward some of the same companies connected to the Kingston’s half-billion-dollar Washakie Renewable Energy fraud case, which sent Iasiah Kingston and Jacob Kingston to prison.

DeRieux explained how the Kingston group teaches its members to take as much money as they can from the government, a practice known as “bleeding the beast.”

“The government’s the beast, and they have plenty of money to give,” DeRieux said.

Lambert cited the Washakie Renewable Energy case and documents from the Utah Attorney General in her presentation to the SCSB.

“The Co-Op reportedly pays wages in ‘units’... (that) act as payments toward rent, groceries and supplies in church owned stores... Many of their life decisions were made for them, including housing, marriage partners, jobs or careers, education, spending money and food allowances.”

Rep. Elizabeth Weight, D-West Valley City, attended the meeting and applauded the SCSB for taking action against the school in her district.

She expressed dismay with the amount of excuses she heard from Vanguard Academy.

“One story after another after another. Yeah, that kind of thing is troubling, and I think it’s my job as a representative to be troubled,” Weight said. “I didn’t see any action (taken by the SCSB based) on suspicion.”

“I think the most crucial part of your investigation is the fact that you’re talking to the right people and you’re asking so many good questions,” Anderson said. “They were questions that were overlooked by the State Charter Board, and hopefully will no longer be.”

Secret Meetings

The "deficiencies" described in this story were not the only issues cited by the SCSB, which means our reporting does not end with this report.

Tomorrow, in part three of our FOX 13 Investigates: Administrators Expelled series, we will explain why the state believes Vanguard Academy has been holding improper or sometimes secret meetings.

It’s an issue FOX 13 News discovered months ago.

We’ll show you the way we were treated when we attempted to ask questions about it.