ListenListen: Investigative reporter explains STEP Academy’s financial peril. One of the state’s largest charter schools is on the brink of shutting down. At a chaotic meeting of the STEP Academy board last night, parents were told the school is bleeding cash. At the beginning of the school year, its deficit was $800,000; it’s now $2.1 million. Two board members also resigned, KARE-11 reports.