Numerous findings issued against former Montgomery County charter school

Numerous findings for recovery were issued against the General Chappie James Leadership Academy community school in Montgomery County in audit released Feb. 16 by Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost.

Among the many findings against the now-closed school, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, the Ohio Department of Education indicated that the academy received a state foundation overpayment amount of $30,591.47. The state previously issued a separate special audit report on the academy covering the period of July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2014 which indicated that the overpayment for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014 was actually $106,786.

This was included as a finding for recovery against the academy’s former director. Neither the academy nor the former director has repaid the Ohio Department of Education for the foundation overpayment and ODE has certified the amount of $30,591.47 to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for collection. Due to adjustments to Foundation FTE payments by ODE after the close of the fiscal year, the state "believes the actual amount of the finding for recovery should remain $106,786 as previously reported."

The state did not receive a response from academy officials to this finding.

The academy also provided quarterly Form 941’s and a Payroll Summary Report for the calendar year ended Dec. 31, 2014. The academy made manual check payments to employees from April 23, 2014 through September 16, 2014 amounting to $26,442.56 to employees for which no evidence of federal income tax and Medicare withholdings were made. This matter will be referred to the Internal Revenue Service for further investigation.

The Ohio Department of Taxation and the State Teachers Retirement System also had no evidence of withholdings being made.

The state did not receive a response from academy officials to this finding.

For the complete audit, go to https://ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/Reports/2016/General_Chappie_James_Leadership_Academy_14-Montgomery_Report.pdf

In June 2015, Auditor Yost reported that officials at the General Chappie James Leadership Academy padded their attendance rolls by nearly 50 percent. Findings for recovery totaled more than $1.1 million.

“It’s no mistake when your attendance records are off by nearly half,” Auditor Yost said. “These findings illustrate the need for meaningful charter school reform."

On March 6, 2014, the Auditor of State’s office learned of allegations that the academy may have been illegally inflating its attendance number to receive money from the Ohio Department of Education for students who did not attend the academy.