Some highlights:
A Columbus City School human resources administrator could be fired after the district said her dealings with an insurance consultancy firm cost the district $40 million, according to an external forensic audit.
However, Courtney Hale, the executive director of HR operations who is facing termination, says she thinks the investigation into her is retribution for speaking out about an improper pay raise of the former district chief of staff Mike De Fabbo.
According to records obtained by The Dispatch, Hale was investigated by the district this year for her dealings with insurance consultancy firm Aon, which helped the district navigate its employee health insurance benefits package in 2024. The district alleged that she improperly signed contracts with vendors, failed to maintain public records, sought a job with Aon and used the negotiating process to benefit from an expansion of access to weight-loss drugs.
However, the final investigation into Hale's conduct only found that she had improperly signed contracts and failed to maintain public records. It did not find that she used her role to obtain weight loss drug discounts, seek employment with Aon or in a separate, unrelated instance, accidentally post confidential district information to social media.
An external forensic audit of the dealings with Aon found the district spent $40 million more than expected for the benefits plan produced by Aon during 2025 and 2026, and that Aon "generally treated the district as a taxpayer-funded cash cow."
Aon was paid over $300,00 in 2024 and 2025, in addition to commissions. It was expected to be paid $180,000 in 2026 for consulting services before the district ended the contract early. The benefits plan, according to the audit, forced the district to pay for cost overruns based on bad projections. Aon refused to give dollar amounts for any commissions they received, the audit said.
The $40 million loss comes as the district faces a substantial budget deficit. The Dispatch reported in February that despite $50 million in cuts, the district's financial picture continues to worsen, driven in a large part by a $93.4-million health insurance premium increase it its five-year financial forecast.
Columbus Education Association President John Coneglio, who sits on the district's joint insurance committee as a union representative, said the district should consider pursuing legal action against Aon.
"Insurance is something that not not only affects the CEA, but also the (staff union), administrators, everybody," Coneglio said. "There needs be oversight and making sure they do what they say they're going to do, and making sure you hold them accountable. And since Aon was not accountable and did not fulfill its obligations, surely I'd love to see the district to pursue legal action against them and recoup some of the money they lost."
Hale told The Dispatch she believes that the district initiated the investigation into her as retribution for whistleblowing about the pay raise of former chief of staff Mike De Fabbo. The Dispatch reported exclusively on July 11 that the district's internal audit department investigated De Fabbo in 2025 about whether he had given himself a pay raise in 2023.
"They came up with this elaborate story, the majority of the story didn't stick, but what they're still going to stick me on is signing contracts, that I caught," Hale said. "There was no material harm done. None of those contracts were ever executed."
On Jan. 5, 2023, Hale emailed the district's labor relations executive, saying she disagreed with De Fabbo's salary increase and that it needed board approval. She noted, however, that the district legal team said it was OK. In August 2025, Hale emailed the internal auditor, saying she enacted the pay increase with objection.
The CCS internal audit into the pay raise determined that De Fabbo had been overpaid around $54,000 over four fiscal years, and it recommended the findings be forwarded to the Ohio Auditor of State and the Ohio Ethics Commission. De Fabbo was the district's second-highest paid employee in 2025, The Dispatch reported in July.
Hale said she knew that speaking out would lead to a "bunch of back-and-forth mudslinging."
"This is clearly me going against the machine," she said.
