OHSAA Convenes Athletic Task Force – by Lawrence Budd, Dayton Daily News

We borrowed this story with permission from Lawrence Budd at the Dayton Daily News. In case you missed it, definitely worthwhile reading:

 

The association that oversees high-school athletics in Ohio has formed a task force to work with school-district treasurers in the wake of questionable use of more than $100,000 in receipts from games or sports camps at several schools in separate incidents.

Athletic directors, coaches and other school officials in more than a half-dozen districts — including several in central Ohio — have faced scrutiny in 2012 for questionable use of funds.

Officials said part of the problem stems from different approaches by Ohio school districts: In some, all money is accounted for through the district treasurer, while others allow coaches to hold payments from sports camps and gate receipts in private accounts.

“Under Ohio law, boards of education have substantial discretion to define payment procedures and the proper use of bank accounts, but once those procedures are defined, they must be followed,” Ohio Auditor Dave Yost’s office said in a statement issued as part of audits uncovering irregularities by athletic directors in the Olentangy school district, north of Columbus.

Also contributing to confusion are unofficial agreements between local officials and coaches allowing the coaches to keep profits from sports camps as added compensation, according to John Doll, a school board member in Centerville, near Dayton, and the lawyer representing coaches in Springboro under scrutiny for their handling of money collected for sports camps.

“You’re never going to find it in writing. It’s just a discussion they’ll have with them,” Doll said.

Developing standards

Officials with the Ohio High School Athletic Association have formed the Treasurers Liaison Group to work with district treasurers from across the state to tighten controls over school sports revenue, particularly receipts from OHSAA games.

“The main focus of the meetings is to develop a standard framework for financial accountability for both regular-season and tournament events, as well as other activities at Ohio’s schools,” Tim Stried, the OHSAA’s director of information services, said in an email. “We also have some other items on the agenda to discuss, like summer sports camps, but have not had an opportunity to fully engage on this subject yet.”

Scrutiny of the collection of game receipts, the association’s main source of revenue, has heightened following a series of incidents in 2012 in Ohio school districts, including the Huber Heights City Schools, just north of Dayton.

This year, Jay Minton, the athletic director and football coach at the district’s Wayne High School, was required to pay back $4,176 in gate receipts from a September 2011 game with Sir Frederick Banting High School from London, Ontario. Two audits failed to determine what happened to the money, leaving Minton — the responsible official in his role as athletic director — to cover the loss.
“I got thrown under the bus,” Minton said in a text message.

Wayne High School’s Class of 1982 and donations from other private sources helped Minton pay back the money. Since then, Minton said he has put financial controls in place, including the requirement of two signatures for every exchange of cash, ensuring proper accounting and a paper trail.

Central Ohio cases

This past spring in the Olentangy school district, in Delaware County, an athletic director resigned and outside accounts held by three district athletic directors were closed. The accounts were closed after a state audit, sought by the district after questions about the collection of game receipts identified more than $11,000 in misspent funds. The coaches repaid the district, and no charges were filed.

Also in 2012, the Worthington, Gahanna-Jefferson and Hilliard school districts began routing revenue from game-ticket sales through the districts’ treasurers’ offices. The athletic director at Hilliard Bradley High School admitted converting $12,000 in tournament receipts for personal use after an audit identified a $40,000 discrepancy between bank statements and deposits reported to the OHSAA.

Going into business

While required to track the gate receipts, some school districts, including Mason City Schools in Warren County, allow coaches to run their sports camps through private corporations, enabling the coaches to supplement their incomes and clearing up any confusion about liability and profits, officials said.

“Many of them have started their own corporations,” said Mike Brannon, assistant superintendent of operations in Mason. “They’re doing business like anyone else would do business.”
Parents are advised that the camps are not part of the school district’s operations. The coaches’ companies pay the district for school facilities’ use and other expenses.

“It’s taken awhile for them to understand they are in business for themselves. Now, it’s second nature,” Brannon said.

In Springboro, south of Dayton, coaches handled camp fees through private accounts until the board began asking questions earlier this year.

In June, the board amended district policy to require coaches to report camp finances to the treasurer’s office. In July, Troy Holtrey, the longtime boy’s basketball coach and former athletic director, reported about $20,000 in gross revenue from recent camps.

Holtrey, who was replaced as the coach in 2012 after 21 years at the school, said he would be writing a check for $10,141 “from my account” and signing over another $1,585 in checks to the district, according to an email to the athletic director.

“Schools can go different directions,” said Doll, the lawyer for Holtrey and three other coaches who were asked for records by the district and state auditors.

Handling camp funds

Doll said the question of how to handle coach-camp funds had never come up in his time on the school board in Centerville, south of Dayton.

Coaches sometimes pay players and others to help at camps. Districts that manage coach-camp funds are subject to income taxes and other benefits typically withheld for employees, Doll said.
Since taking the Springboro coaches’ case, Doll said he has questioned experts and officials from districts across Ohio. Historically, the coaches handled the camp funds in their own accounts through unofficial agreements, he said. In the past decade, school districts have begun formalizing the arrangements or overseeing the funds through board offices.

“It has changed because people in the public have asked questions about it,” Doll said.
While recognizing Doll’s points, Jim Rigano, a board member in Springboro, said coaches and other school officials need to be careful with how they handle all public funds.

“It’s always important that school-district officials act with integrity. When you are a public employee, there’s a high standard of ethical conduct. At the end of the day, you’re dealing with the public’s trust,” Rigano said.

lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com