Columbus – Audits of two affiliated Dayton charter schools hold administrators accountable for about $600 in unsupported purchases of gift cards, tickets to Kings Island and a bicycle. 

The newly-released audits of the Dayton Leadership Academy’s Early Learning Academy and Dayton View Campus flag five purchases from 2015 and 2016 for lacking evidence needed to prove they served a proper public purpose. 

School officials said most of the purchased items were given to students as attendance incentives, but incomplete records and discrepancies in those that were provided made it impossible for auditors to substantiate that claim. 

Some of the names of incentive recipients listed on records did not correspond with any of the students enrolled in the schools. In one case, documents indicated that gift cards were purchased 14 days after they were apparently given to students. 

Dean of Students Eric Wright was reimbursed for the purchases with the approval of former Executive Director Theodore Wallace and former Treasurer Tammy Emrick. The board of trustees never signed off on the expenses. 

The audits issue two findings for recovery totaling $577 against Wright, Emrick and Wallace. Emrick repaid the full amount to the schools on Nov. 14, 2017.

Full copies of these reports are available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

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