Audit: SCPA employees lacked background checks

Scroll to the bottom of this story to read the CPS documents.

An internal audit shows staff members at the School for Creative and Performing Arts had unsupervised, one-on-one access to students but did not have valid background checks.

That was true for 71 percent of "seasoned supplemental staff" at SCPA, or 20 out of 28 employees, according to the audit released to The Enquirer on Thursday.

That revelation occurred after the school's artistic director, Isadore Rudnick, "decisively stated that they all indeed had valid background checks," the audit states.

Principal Steve Brokamp's response to the finding was described as "lackadaisical."

Rudnick could not be reached for comment, but Brokamp disputed the audit in an emailed response. The missing background checks were from a partnership with the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, which partnered with SCPA over the summer to help enhance the school's string program, Brokamp wrote.

"These people entered our SCPA family in late summer, but eventually went through the background check process," Brokamp wrote. "All were cleared to work with our students, except one who was released part way through the year for other reasons."

Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education president Alex Kuhns declined to comment, but the audit sheds new light on perhaps why Brokamp and Rudnick were reassigned for the 2015-16 school year.

Among other audit findings:

• There were issues with spending and billing policies at SCPA: Rudnick, for example, would create invoices, approve them, submit them for payment and make purchases all on his own – a process "which violates sound business practices and circumvents proper segregation of duties," according to the audit.

• There were concerns about how money was collected from ticket sales and how cash deposits were handled.

• Brokamp hired a former president of the Friends of SCPA as a substitute teacher, even though that organization fell victim to a Ponzi scheme. There is an ongoing investigation by the Ohio Attorney General's Office, according to the audit. The audit also notes that, even though the Friends group was separate from SCPA, "some well-placed questions by the Principal would seem advisable for the Principal to understand how the school is being impacted by this entity."

Brokamp wrote that the process took a turn after he was asked to approve a $10,000 payment for a parent to assist in the audit.

"I declined to be the person to make that decision," he wrote. "From that point on, things seemed to go down hill with the accuracy of the reporting."

SCPA was founded in 1973. In 2010, it merged with the Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment, creating the first K-12 public performing arts school in the country.

The school has been under scrutiny, though, since the Friends group disbanded, and a subsequent investigation revealed long-standing financial and operational challenges.

In early May, the school made headlines after CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan announced Brokamp and Rudnick would be reassigned. That decision sparked a wave of student protests and community backlash. During the May 11 board of education meeting, a crowd of more than 100 gathered, questioning the rationale behind the decision and demanding answers from the board.

Several parents said during that meeting that they no longer trust the board members. Others expressed concern that with a new executive director coming in, a position that didn't exist before, there will be no one to show him or her the SCPA ropes.

CPS board member Melanie Bates said she's unable to talk about personnel matters, but regarding SCPA in general, all the board's decisions and work have been for the betterment of the school and its students. With regard to the school's future, "I have no doubt that we will be just fine," Bates said.

"The time that the board has dedicated to one school out of our 55 schools to make sure that school is on the right track, I think that stands on its own merit," she said.

Michael Matts is a former Friends president who resigned because of concerns about how SCPA was being run, he said. He is not the president who was hired as an SCPA substitute teacher.

"I wanted no part of what was going on," he said, adding that his initial reaction to the audit is that it "very much mirrors my experience as president."

The Friends group was credible and instrumental in SCPA's development for 40 years, Matts said, "and it was brought to its knees by leadership."

Overall, the audit released Thursday took issue with a lack of effective communication and cooperation by SCPA's top officials. In the aftermath of the Ponzi scheme investigation, it was difficult to get data, there was inconsistent record keeping, and a failure to follow district policies and procedures, the audit states.

Brokamp pointed to a recent U.S. News and World Report ranking, which names SCPA in the top 9 percent of schools nationwide, No. 101 in the state. He's incredibly proud of all his students and staff have accomplished, he wrote, "despite so many efforts to cloud those achievements."

"I have, perhaps, the most talented group of seniors to EVER graduate from our school," he wrote. "On Sunday, when they graduate, I want the emphasis to be on them."