Cincinnati Charter School is under state investigation following Dohn’s firing

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – The State Auditor’s Office of Special Investigations has opened an investigation into the operating company that ran the Dawn High School community for years until the school board recently fired the company and its owner.

The Special Investigations Unit is a team of forensic experts who investigate allegations of misuse of public funds and taxpayers’ money, fraud and corruption. They can file criminal cases for prosecution and findings for reinstatement.

Dohn is a nonprofit charter school with multiple campuses in Cincinnati.

Its funding comes from the Ohio State Foundation, and until last month, the school was run by the Cincinnati Charter School Collaborative.

On Sept. 19, Dohn’s board of directors voted to terminate its contract with the Cincinnati Charter School Collaborative and its owner, Ramon Davenport.

“We have an open investigation involving the Cincinnati Charter School Collaborative,” a spokesperson for the auditor’s office told FOX19 NOW, declining to comment further.

This new investigation is being conducted at the request of Don’s sponsor, the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation of Columbus, according to a copy of the complaint filed earlier this year.

One of the foundation’s vice presidents, Jennifer Schorr, sent a lengthy and detailed complaint to the state auditor’s office on June 25 alleging serious financial problems with the school’s revenue and expenses.

The Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, she wrote, is “deeply concerned about the outrageous level of spending at Dohn Community High School in FY24,” where the foundation says $4.2 million in taxpayer dollars is at stake.

When FOX19 NOW contacted Davenport, he said he was not aware of the complaint or the investigation.

After looking at a copy of it, he said everything in it had been reviewed over the course of a year.

He declined to comment on the school’s decision to cut ties with him and his company.

Don’s attorney, Adam Brown, told FOX19 NOW that the school was also unaware of the complaint and investigation and will fully cooperate with any investigation.

Davenport started at Dohn in 2009 and has been seen as the face of the school, which gives young people who have left traditional schools a second chance.

Cincinnati Charter School Collaborative’s contract included oversight of Dohn’s academic and operational activities, management of its finances, regulatory compliance, personnel and professional development.

Dohn’s board terminated the contract on Sept. 19 “due to a lack of cooperation in an internal investigation” launched earlier that month into allegations of possible fiscal abuse, Dohn’s attorney said.

Don’s sponsor made the allegations and is conducting an internal investigation, he said.

According to Ohio law and Bucky’s sponsorship agreement with Don, Bucky is required to supervise and control the school.

“As part of that duty, the sponsor determined that an investigation was necessary due to concerns related to financial management, unpaid suppliers and outstanding debt,” Brown said. “Dohn’s board of directors and staff are fully cooperating and assisting with the investigation.”

And now the audit service will also check the accusations.

The Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, Schorr wrote in the complaint, is “deeply concerned about the extraordinarily high level of spending at Dohn Community High School in FY24,” where the foundation says $4.2 million in taxpayer dollars is at stake.

The foundation said Don usually has a significant cash balance at the end of each financial year, but the period from 2023 to 2024 was “financially quite different from previous years”.

According to the complaint, the Dohn fund had a cash balance of about $4 million at the end of fiscal year 2023, and a projected balance of about $200,000 at the end of fiscal year 2024.

“We simply do not know where all this money went, as many of the numbers simply do not match or make sense with the statements and emails provided,” Schorr wrote in the complaint.

In the complaint, the foundation also notes:

Don spent about $400,000 on these buses did not meet the requirements of state legislation and are now idle and cannot be used or sold. The school is out of funds if the auditors find that it was misspent public money that must be returned.
Earlier this year, Dohn stopped paying the vendor that provided his online training program, leaving him more than $381,000 in debt.
Because the provider stopped providing its training program when its bills were not paid, some students may have been awarded “invalid or unearned” graduation credits.
The foundation asked the board about the costs and was told that the school buildings were being upgraded, but during the compliance visit, the foundation noted that their team did not witness any construction or major improvements.
Don was forced to stop using their Reading Road campus because they “did not and could not make the necessary repairs to bring it up to code”.

Reached for comment, Schorr said, “We stand by our messaging about what we care about.”

Read the complaint here:

After Davenport’s termination, Don’s board of directors appointed the school’s chief executive officer, Bill Geraghty, as chief executive officer and superintendent.

He worked at Dohn for more than four years in Human Resources, Compliance and Operations/Management.

Prior to his appointment as superintendent, he was the chief operating officer.

“He has the full support and trust of the board,” Don’s attorney told FOX19 NOW.

See a spelling or grammar mistake in our story? Click here to report it.

Do you have breaking news photos or videos? Send it’s here for us with a brief description.