Audit targets charter schools


COLUMBUS (AP) — A group of Northeast Ohio taxpayer-funded charter schools paid some board members multiple times for attendance at a single meeting, a business practice that was legal at the time but was classified as abusive in a review by state Auditor Mary Taylor.

Taylor also found improper credit card purchases, faulty documentation and misallocation of purchases in the audit of the 19 Hope Academy and Life Skills schools, which all have the same fiscal officer, Ohio Community School Consultants of Dublin, and the same board president, Robert Townsend.

The schools are managed by White Hat Management, whose president, David Brennan, has been a big contributor to Republican candidates and causes, including Taylor, who has received $60,000 from Brennan and his wife since 2005. White Hat spokesman Robert Tenenbaum said the audit targeted the boards and were not against White Hat.

Board members

Many of the charter schools were governed by the same four to six board members, who each received a base pay of $125 per meeting, said the audit released Tuesday. In some cases, board members were paid 17 times for their attendance at a single meeting, at a rate of $2,125, the audit found.

Seven of the boards had recovery findings, seventeen were cited for overcompensation of board members, and all were cited for undocumented credit card purchases and bookkeeping errors.

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