Former charter school leader gets plea deal

A former superintendent accused of using her charter school as her "personal feifdom" is now a convicted felon, marking the latest blemish for charter schools in this region and statewide.

Lisa Hamm, who ran the Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, the region's largest charter school, cut a deal with prosecutors last week. She pleaded guilty Oct. 8 to three of 26 felony counts against her. The remaining charges, including multiple counts of theft in office and tampering with evidence, were dismissed.

Hamm, who court documents claim ran the school as her "personal fiefdom," could get up to 18 months in prison on the charges of unauthorized use of property. Probation is also an option. She agreed to repay $75,000 to the school. She's scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 24 by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge John West.

Hamm of Fairfield, and former treasurer Stephanie Millard, of Walnut Hills, were accused of stealing or misusing $148,000 in taxpayer money that should have gone to educating the 950 students at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy. The court documents allege Hamm instead used the money to pay for extravagant trips, plays, concerts, luggage, spa visits, jewelry veterinary care and other personal uses.

The charges in the Oct. 8 plea agreement involved a trip to San Diego that ended up costing more than $20,000, and trips to Orlando and to see Oprah Winfrey. Hamm had said the trips were school-related.

Hamm entered what's called an "Alford plea" which meant she wasn't admitting she committed the crimes, but agreed the prosecution probably could have proven its case, said her attorney, Mike Allen. The end result is the same as a traditional guilty plea.

Allen said Hamm just wants to move on.

"We'd fully planned on going to trial for a long time," he said, but as the case drug on, "she decided she wants to get this behind her as quickly as possible and so we moved forward with a plea. Regardless of what you think of her, she's been through a lot."

The charges against Millard, the treasurer, still stand.

The school serves roughly 950 students in buildings in the West End and Madisonville.

In 2013, a tip to the state auditor's office led to Hamm's demise. The auditor got an anonymous tip about credit card use and launched a special audit of the school. The results, released in June 2013, found that Hamm and Millard mispent $520,000. Additional findings later revealed she spent another $8,495 on school credit cards. Some of the allegations date back to 2006.

Allen said Hamm is not currently employed, but he expects she will eventually have the means to repay the $75,000.

This was the first time Hamm has been in trouble with the law, he said.

"She's a PhD," he said. "Before this occurred she was one of the most respected educators in the country with respect to charter schools. She's devastated by this."

Charter schools are public schools that are independently run. There are about three dozen in Southwest Ohio. Some are high-performing and well-run. But as a group they're often criticized for lax accountability and mediocre academics. Several local charter schools have closed over the years due to financial problems and academic issues. Some cases resulted in criminal charges.

The state has been cracking down on charter schools via stringent audits and increased scrutiny of their sponsoring organizations. Charter school accountability has become a political issue, as Democrats accuse Republican leadership of not doing enough to improve it.

In the most recent example the Concept chain of charter schools, which includes the Horizon Science Academy in Bond Hill, came under investigation by the FBI and the Ohio Department of Education after a string of allegations including improper use of technology money and testing irregularities.