A Florida school district CFO confirms that the bank account for a hugely successful youth orchestra program is rife with accounting problems, after effectively being “lost” to accounting oversight for years.
The resulting controversy is pitting liberal and conservative elements in the district against each other. Newly elected, conservative-leaning board members say they’re baffled as to how a sizable bank account could fly under the radar for years. Meanwhile, others in the district accuse them of trying to destroy a beloved institution.
At the workshop, the board reviewed agenda items for its upcoming school board meeting. One of the items up for discussion was the status of the youth orchestra, a longtime fixture of the district.
The string orchestra involves over 350 students from 10 schools.
The FYO account was opened in 2005 by then-superintendent Bill Delbrugge, under the name “Friends of the Youth Orchestra.” The original bank—Cypress Coquina—since merged with PNC Bank.
“At some point in time” the name on the account was “flipped to Flagler County School District,” Flagler County Schools chief financial officer Patty Wormeck said at the June 6 workshop.
Confusion begins with who is in control of the FYO account. Checks for the account still bear the name, “Friends of the Youth Orchestra.” The account bears the school district’s Employer Identification Number (EIN). However, none of the signees on the account are employees of the district.
The topic was first raised at the May 16 workshop. However, while newly elected board member William Furry said he asked a “lot of direct questions,” at that meeting, he says he only “received a lot of misleading answers.”
“And I’m not very happy about that,” he said on June 6. “Because I asked specifically about this account, what type of account is this, and I was told it was a booster account.”
He also inquired about accountability and oversight, he said. He was assured the account was audited.
“Turns out it hasn’t been audited,” he said. “Ever.”
‘A Sweet Set-up’
At the May 16 school board workshop, FYO director Cheryl Tristam provided a presentation to explain to the three new school board members—Furry, Christy Chong, and Sally Hunt—how the FYO program is set up and what Flagler County Schools is getting for its investment. With her was Joe Corporon, the orchestra’s artistic director.Originally created in 2005 as an after-school strings program, the Flagler Youth Orchestra provides instruction in violin, viola, cello, and bass, with orchestral performance opportunities.
“This is a Flagler County Schools initiated strings program and we’re basically facilitating it,” Tristam said.
While the program is “free,” she said that students are expected to “rent or purchase their instruments.” A graphic showed that “family’s cost per student for supplies to get started” ranges between $26-$37. Instrument rentals range between $17 to $50 per month.
With 232 new beginner students and 375 students overall, Tristam said 2023 was “a record year.”
FYO took in between $6,032 and $8,584 in start-up costs for beginning students.
FYO rents instruments to orchestra members, but it is unclear how many students rent from the orchestra itself, and how many rent them elsewhere. Depending on how many students rented directly from FYO, the orchestra could potentially make thousands a month in instrument rental fees.
Further, because there has never been an audit, Flagler Schools doesn’t know how much FYO has made over the past 18 years in instrument rentals.
Jill Woolbright, a former school board member, noted that instrument rental fees aren’t FYO’s only source of income.
“There’s also the donations from individuals, donations from companies, ads in their programs, and ticket sales,” Woolbright told The Epoch Times.
However, no one has ever seen an accounting for any of that.
The only payments Woolbright was able to verify were the checks Flagler Schools sends to the individual instructors, who are identified as 1099 contractors.
“There has been no accountability for all of the other stuff for 18 years,” Woolbright said. “It’s a sweet set-up.”
During her tenure as a board member, Woolbright was also told FYO was “like a booster,” she said.
Questions; Confusing Answers
Following Tristam’s May 16 presentation, the board was welcomed to ask questions.Chong asked why there were no “actual expense reports.” She also inquired about FYO’s “tax status.”
Tristam said the bank account is “like a booster account.”
Asked if was “legal,” Tristam said yes.
Flagler County school board vice chair Colleen Conklin concurred.
Furry asked if FYO was “a Flagler Schools program.”
Conklin affirmed it was.
If FYO was a Flagler Schools program, Furry wanted to know what form of oversight the board was performing “other than meeting once a year to approve funding.”
Conklin said, “I don’t think it’s ever been set up where Flagler Schools has control over the program other than, ‘here is the mission, here is what we’ve asked the contractors to provide and to do,’ and then annually we look at the number of students that are participating.”
Furry then asked why FYO isn’t registered with the state if it is an “entity.”
Conklin said that FYO isn’t an “entity,” and that it belongs to the school district. Through conversations with Delbrugge, she said she “knew this was an internal account.”
At the June 6 workshop, Furry noted that Tristam—who is not an employee of Flagler County Schools—and Delbrugge—who no longer works for Flagler County Schools—were signers on the school’s account.
“That is a problem,” Furry asserted.
Furry asked current superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt if she had been aware of the account. She said she was not.
Asked if she would approve having non-employees as signers on a school bank account, Mittelstadt said, “That’s not our practice, sir.”
Furry then asked where all of the money is going.
Tristam said, “Into the booster account.”
Asked who controls the “booster account,” Conklin responded that Flagler Schools controls the account.
‘A Separate Entity’
After the issues with the FYO account emerged at the June 6 workshop, Wormeck said Tristam had provided her QuickBooks records for FYO’s accounting.Furry asked how far back the data went.
Flagler County Schools director of finance Keri Whitmore said it went back to “at least, I think, until 2009.” As FYO began in 2005, that leaves several years unaccounted for.
Conklin interjected, saying Delbrugge told her Tristam had submitted yearly internal audits. “Those numbers were shared,” Conklin said.
Staff ‘Surprised’
Conklin admitted that Flagler Schools staff were “surprised” to find out that the FYO account was a district account.Wormeck agreed, saying no current school employees knew the account was in the district’s name. When they received checks from Friends of the Youth Orchestra, Wormeck said they always assumed it “was a separate entity.”
Conversely, Conklin said Tristam always thought the bank account belonged to the district and that she was just a “contracted employee to basically fulfill the requirements” asked of her.
However, when Whitmore and Wormeck went to the bank to investigate the account, the bank refused to share any information because neither was on the account as a signer. No Flagler County Schools employee was listed on the account bearing the Flagler County Schools EIN as a signer.
Political Overtones
More interesting was the discovery that Cheryl’s husband, Pierre, was also a signer on the account.Conklin was not surprised that Pierre was on the account. The couple “were both intimately involved” with the orchestra effort, she said.
The connection to Pierre Tristam highlights the political overtones of the controversy. The FlaglerLive editor has been a vocal critic of the new school board members, dubbing Furry and Chong “Republican Christian nationalists” and calling Hunt, the swing vote on the board, a “narcissist.”
Also under some scrutiny is the relationship between FYO and FlaglerLive.
‘Fundraising Efforts and Expenses’
At the May 16 workshop, Tristam said when the orchestra needs to purchase equipment, like bows or cases, “we make that purchase, because there is no line item for the school district to cover that.” She also said instruments were purchased with money raised by FYO.According to Tristam’s presentation, fundraising efforts—from concert ticket sales to donations to concession stand revenues—cover a range of expenses from teacher costs to instrument repairs, fees, supplies, and scholarships.
“Everything that we generate goes into that singular account,” Tristam explained, adding that “anything coming out of it is for purchasing instruments” and paying for “repairs.”
“It’s really a unique set-up,” Furry noted.
“It’s one of a kind in the state,” Conklin said.
Board chair Cheryl Massaro said, “If we ran this program through the school system, we couldn’t afford it, quite frankly.”
Projected Budget
According to the agenda item details presented at the school board workshop, the FYO’s projected contracts for 2023–2024 total $99,880.Of that amount, the Flagler County School District will fund $78,880. FYO will fund the difference in contract costs of $21,000. The arrangement is spelled out in a memo of understanding between the school district and the orchestra program.
In addition, the 2023–2024 projected budget for the youth orchestra lists $1,800 for instrument repairs, $1,200 for instruments, $1,000 for music library/teaching materials, and $1,00 for office supplies.The projected budget—which reflects a budget increase of $8,880—includes pay increases: Tristam said FYO teachers have not had a pay raise since 2015.
Salary contracts before the board for approval include Corporon’s $26,000, part-time contracts for five music teachers ranging from $2,760 to $10,890, and Tristam’s at $35,000.
While Chong believes FYO is a “wonderful program,” she was skeptical of the need for so much money.
Audit Results Expected
Wormeck advised that a full, external audit is now underway to examine FYO’s income and expenditures for the past four years. The results are expected at the end of June, but “it might be the end of July,” she said.In the meantime, the debated FYO account has been closed and a new account has been opened, still under the name “Flagler Youth Orchestra.” Wormeck and Whitmore are now the only signers.
The Rules
In addition to the audit, “We have a duty to make sure that this structure is acceptable,” Furry said. “If this is totally legit, let’s keep running with it, but I think in light of all this, we have to stop and tighten the screws here, dot the i’s and cross the t’s and make we’re doing the right thing.”“We have a structure in place for internal accounts” such as football teams, said Kristy Gavin, school board attorney. “The structure is allowed.”
Not least among them is the requirement for regular reports and audits:
‘No Concerns Regarding Fraud’
The Epoch Times reached out to Conklin for clarification.“I always understood it to be our program, initiated and underwritten with the acknowledgment and recommendation of Superintendent Bill Delbrugge,” Conklin said by email. “I had no reason to believe the account wasn’t being audited along with all internal accounts. When we get audit reports back, great attention is paid to audit exceptions. I was never aware of an audit exception.”
However, the emails were from December 2006 through October 2008, and the “reports” were limited to the name on the account, the bank name, the account type, and the account balance. No corroborating documentation was attached.
“We underwrite FYO just like we underwrite the football team and again, I was under the impression the Friends of FYO was their booster similar to football booster. Apparently, I misunderstood,” she said. “I never thought Flagler Youth Orchestra was an independent entity and still do not see it as one.”
An additional revelation by Wormeck offered an explanation as to why no one knew about the account. During the entire 18 years, FYO’s bank statements were mailed to Tristam’s home address.
Ultimately, Conklin said she has “no concerns regarding fraud” and that she looks forward “to the completion of a full audit and the initiation of all the necessary protocols, procedures and policies.”
Furry, on the other hand, said the situation “is concerning.”
“I was given misinformation at the May 16 workshop and I pressed that at the June 6 workshop,” Furry said. “I was told it was a booster account. I was told the account was audited, and I was also told that access to the account was through Flagler Schools when in fact, Cheryl Tristam and her husband are signers.”
Further, he said, “Neither are employees of the school and they’re using our EIN. All I did was ask for three years of financials only to find there were none to be had. The rest happened on its own.”
Cheryl Tristam has not responded to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
The Flagler County School Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday.
