Former Maricopa High School basketball coach Jason Royal paid himself $4,283 in booster club funds, leading to his termination and a school district investigation, a report from a Mesa law firm states.
A copy of the report from law firm Udall/Shumway released to InMaricopa reveals how Maricopa Unified School District discovered what district officials and investigators allege to be “mishandling” and “missing funds collected by” Royal.
MUSD fired him in January.
“Based on the evidence and statements provided during this investigation, Mr. Royal has assured administration for the district that he will provide bank statements showing all funds accounted for,” states the report from the law firm hired by MUSD. “The first request was in January of this year.”
MUSD Athletic Director Craig Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jacob Harmon and the law firm’s investigator, Renee Osipov, have all requested banking statements from Royal.
“We have never received any bank statements for the boosters,” the report states. “We were able to review transactions showing Mr. Royal paying himself from the booster account in the amount of $4,283.”
Harmon, in a recent email obtained by InMaricopa, states officials notified basketball booster club parents that MUSD will allocate additional dollars from the auxiliary funding source to waive athlete participation fees during the current school year. Harmon also informed parents the district will provide warmup gear to each athlete on the basketball team and increase budget allocation toward the boys’ basketball program during the upcoming school year.
The law firm’s report states the district cannot legally reimburse the booster club because it is an “independent” group.
Harmon met privately with concerned parents about the Royal matter to hear their concerns last week.
Harmon reviewed documents from Royal’s school district Google drive and his emails. He also interviewed Royal, booster club parents and others with the MUSD Parents Support Group.
School district officials urged parents with knowledge of Royal’s actions to report it to Maricopa Police Department. MUSD has informed the state Auditor’s Office and the Arizona Board of Education about the investigation. The Board of Education could review Royal’s teaching certificate.
Osipov said the district also found that Royal violated governing board policy when he conducted an unauthorized fundraiser. Parents complained Royal created a booster effort against school policy.
“During my investigation, I was reassured by Mr. Royal that the requested items by Mr. Harmon will be produced,” Osipov stated in her report. “Mr. Royal stated multiple times when speaking with me he was not involve with the booster account … Based on the evidence and statements provided during my investigation, it is apparent that Mr. Royal handled and managed the basketball booster. Specifically, he collected booster funds, booster funds were paid out to him directly, he conducted a parent meeting regarding an unapproved fundraiser for this booster, he contacted vendors directly regarding ordered clothing.”
The report states parents produced screenshots of receipts of Zelle payments going to Royal’s personal cell number.
The report states Royal communicated to students and parents that there was an approved fundraiser through Aktivate.
“However, Mr. Royal never received approval from any administration for the district,” the report states. “When confronted with these allegations, Mr. Royal shut down the fundraiser and transferred the remaining funds to his personal account from Aktivate. These funds remain unaccounted for.”
Other investigation findings
- A search of Royal’s Google drive found that payments were made directly to his personal accounts totaling $4,283 through 14 separate transactions from the Bank of America booster bank account.
- Parents told school district Athletic Director Craig Moody that students were missing clothing purchased by parents at the beginning of the basketball season. “Mr. Moody investigated and found that Mr. Royal claimed to have made a purchase on an online website, Barry’s Wholesale, using booster funds,” the report states.
- Parents also raised concerns about the quality of clothing they had received.
- Additional concerns were raised regarding Royal’s role in the booster club, and where funds had been allocated. That was when Moody called in Harmon to open the internal district investigation.
- Royal collected money from the booster club through online accounts, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App and Square.
