Cardinal Ace Academy May Provide Revenue Stream

October 2, 2025 by Ann Wishart

After a former Cardinal Schools employee turned a critical eye on the district’s Agriculture Career Education Academy Sept. 10, Treasurer Dan Wilson provided more information on the new program’s long-term benefits.

“The longer view is critical,” said Wilson during the Sept. 24 Cardinal Schools Board of Education meeting, adding the ACE Academy, beginning its second year, needs time to become established and start to attract students from outside Cardinal.

“We have to be patient in that growth,” he said.

The community school, operating in the former home economics rooms at the junior-senior high school, should become a financial plus for the district as its enrollment increases, he added.

“No later than June 30, 2026, all money… will be paid to us,” Wilson said.

At the Sept. 10 board meeting, Joyce Peters, a former district employee, asked about ACE owing Cardinal Schools money, citing the district’s cash summary report.

Cardinal Schools renovated the home economics space so ACE could hold classes there and the organization will be paying the district back by the end of this year, Superintendent Jack Cunningham said.

Last Wednesday, he said while the home economics space renovation cost the district $49,000, if the ACE program did not continue for any reason, the district would still have use of the space.

Wilson said his experience as treasurer at Mentor City Schools encouraged him to believe the ACE Academy will be successful at Cardinal.

That district utilized a vacant elementary school for an autism program in a similar arrangement. This allowed the school to give the students the services they needed close to home rather than transporting them to other schools up to an hour away, he said.

Mentor City Schools provided loans for the program for the first three years and by year five, all the subsidies were repaid, Wilson said, projecting the ACE Academy is a good fit for Cardinal.

“It will be to our advantage as we go forward,” he said, adding the academy is utilizing a space that was not being used.

Also, it is drawing in students who have not been in Cardinal’s halls before, he said.

“It is not unrealistic to expect positive results, going forward, based on my prior experience,” Wilson said. “There are incentives for us and them to grow the program if enrollment goes up.”

There are 44 students taking part in the ACE program now, Cunningham said, adding there is a potential for revenue sharing in the future.

Cardinal renovated the space and is leasing it to ACE, Cunningham said, adding ACE will pay the district back by the end of this school year.

“They did not have the ability to go to a bank for a loan. That is not an option,” Wilson said, rejecting the idea of requiring immediate pay back for the renovation from ACE.

“To enforce collection would put them out of business and we still wouldn’t have the money,” he said.

Cunningham assured Peters the five teachers who took on the job of student learning advocate last year, working with ACE students to complete their academic subjects, were paid as scheduled, adding the district guidance counselor also was paid extra.

There are no student learning advocates for ACE this year and no one from the district is being paid to work for the program, he said in an interview Sept. 26.

Cunningham said ACE is offering opportunities for students in a rural area to take agriculture-related classes on campus.

“I love Auburn Career Center. The dynamic of our relationship has not changed,” he said.

However, Cardinal students taking classes at ACC in Lake County have to travel about 40 minutes each way to attend those classes, and scheduling their time can be difficult, Cunningham said.

Regarding complaints the district is not replacing teachers who retire, he said that is due to dropping enrollment.

“We are right-sizing for a group of 710 kids. This is not a district with 1,200 kids as it was 10 years ago,” Cunningham said. “(No employee) is over their workload capacity.”