The Internal Audit Commission for the City of Hartford voted unanimously this afternoon to continue investigating alleged financial improprieties at Weaver High School.  Today’s vote came after nearly a month-long preliminary investigation spearheaded by IAC Chair Bruce Rubenstein.

The IAC vote to seek “evidentiary matter” arose after repeated attempts by the IAC to retrieve records from the Principal of Weaver, Tiffany Webley. related to the allegations first alluded to in this space on February 18th, (“Storm Clouds Over Weaver High School”).

The allegations are based on the reporting of a source within Weaver High School, who stated that they originated from within Weaver’s “inner circle.” According to the source, the school principal allegedly colluded with an outside agency to sign off on the payment for services from the agency that were never carried out. 

The allegations claim that the seeds for the alleged impropriety may stem from a reported long-term personal relationship between Principal Webley and Kenneth Pilcher, the owner of a business called Infinite Champions Mentorship Program, LLC.  The source states that Pilcher’s LLC was contracted by Principal Webley to provide mentoring services to Weaver students, services which allegedly were never performed but, according to the IAC, a payment of $18,000 to Pilcher, not his LLC, was approved by Webley.

The IAC states that the contract between Weaver High School and Pilcher’s LLC called for Infinite Champions to mentor 9th and 10th grade boys at Weaver for thirty sessions at $60 per session between March of 2022 and June of 2022.  The services were to be provided to those students with attendance and behavioral issues.

The IAC first contacted Principal Webley for evidence that these services were performed by Infinite Champions.  Webley responded that she would gather those documents and follow up with the IAC.  When no documents were forthcoming, the IAC again contacted Webley who stated that she “was working on it.”  Following an email this morning which garnered no response from Webley, the IAC proceeded to vote on furthering their investigation.

The Board of Education’s approval for contracts entered into by Hartford Public Schools with an outside agency is needed only when the contract amount exceeds $50,000.  As part of HPS’ school funding model, central office apportions funds to each school in the district which may be spent by school leadership on educational initiatives relevant to the schools individualized needs.    As long as each line-item expenditure remains below the $50,000 threshold, the BOE is not involved.

State records on Infinite Champions  Mentorship Program, LLC reveal that as a business entity it exists on paper only.  Although a certificate of organization was filed with the Connecticut Secretary of State and an annual report was filed in 2023 (see both here), with Mr. Pilcher being the only individual named as part of the LLC, Infinite Champions maintains no web site, no social media presence (owner Pilcher is also “off the grid”), offers no phone number by which a school could contact them for services, and neither the LLC or owner Pilcher appear to have vehicles registered in Hartford, which is not uncommon in Hartford as folks will register their vehicles in Maine to avoid Hartford’s high property taxes. 

Ms. Webley was named Weaver Principal in August of 2021 and Pilcher formed his LLC five months later, in January of 2022.  According to Hartford tax records, the Hartford address used by the LLC (74 Forest Street) and the Hartford property claimed by Pilcher as a home address (64 Congress Street) are both owned by Brittany Cooper, a Hartford clinical social worker, entrepreneur, and apparent landlord.

Mr. Pilcher is also a busy entrepreneur.  Besides mentoring Hartford school kids, he is also listed on stated records as being the owner of KP Supplies, LLC, a used merchandise business, and KP Transportation, LLC, a local trucking company.  All three businesses use the same 74 Forest Street address, owned by Brittany Cooper, who is also listed as a principal of KP Transportation.

While Mr. Pilcher is “off the grid,” Principal Webley has a plethora of Facebook Friends, including BOE Member AJ Johnson and Sherille Payne.  Ms. Payne was the former administrative assistant at Hartford Magnet Trinity College.  According to a WTNH story in 2023, "the administrative assistant at HMTC, who is in charge of the fund, resigned in January after an  investigation" by Bruce Rubenstein and the IAC found a $42,000 deficit in a student activity fund.

As the investigation unfolds and the truth behind the allegations is brought to light, we must think of the millions of dollars annually approved by the BOE to outside vendors and yet the BOE, in renewing many of these contracts, does not ask for specific data concerning what students received services from the vendor and how were each affected by those services, whether it be by using attendance, academic, or behavioral metrics. If oversight of the results is not a concern of the BOE, the legitimate spending of taxpayer money is in doubt and the school children suffer and school leadership and the BOE are responsible.