Boggs calls for Yost’s recusal from ECOT probes

Democratic state Rep. Kristin Boggs issued a scathing call Monday for state Auditor Dave Yost to remove himself from any current or future investigations into ECOT, which is accused of overbilling the state by $60 million over the past several years.

“If Yost had simply done his job in 2014,” Boggs said, “we might not be in this situation.”

The Columbus-area Democrat sent a letter to the Republican auditor calling for his recusal, saying campaign contributions from the online charter school clouded his impartiality and “cast a shadow” over his actions.

Additionally, Boggs called for a special audit to be conducted into the school. Despite the call for an independent agency, Boggs said she was “not entirely familiar with the process” that would require.

“I expect those guardrails are put up to ensure it’s an unbiased process,” Boggs said.

Yost, she said, habitually demonstrated inconsistency in dealing with the beleaguered school. In 2014, a whistleblower made allegations about the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow overbilling the state and cooking their attendance records. Instead of fully investigating the claim, Yost took no real action, Boggs said.

Yost spokesman Ben Marrison said, “The whistleblower’s complaint was investigated by state auditors. The whistleblower would not agree to be interviewed by investigators. Investigators determined the complaint could not be substantiated.”

He also said Boggs’ letter “is full of inaccuracies, specifically with respect to overbilling. ECOT was audited more than other charter schools, not less — including three times in a 13-month period.”

Marrison said that Yost has led the fight to clean up Ohio’s charter schools by issuing findings for recovery of nearly $12 million. The spokesman said Yost has no plans of recusing himself.

The state auditor’s office awarded ECOT an award of distinction in 2015, and Yost spoke at the school’s graduations in 2014 and 2015. He has made public his plans to run for attorney general in 2018.

The state Department of Education, in a ruling currently before the Ohio Supreme Court, said the school inflated its attendance in the 2015-16 school year and thus was overpaid more than $60 million by the state, which bases funding on attendance. Results of an examination of the ECOT’s 2016-17 attendance figures have not been made public.

In a statement, the Ohio Democratic Party said that officials associated with ECOT have given more than $1 million to Ohio Republicans since 2010, including more than $20,000 to Yost from William Lager, ECOT’s founder.

“They did it to advance their business interests,” Boggs said in a statement. “This is the slimiest form of politics. You have a few individuals that have become multimillionaires at the expense of Ohio taxpayers.”

In recent weeks Yost has pursued ECOT’s purported use of taxpayer money to bankroll TV ads bashing the legislature and others for the questions over the school’s padded attendance.