A Hard Hit For DACC And The Community

FROM DACC: “State and federal grant funding for Danville Area Community College’s Adult Education program has been eliminated. The Illinois Community College Board handed down this decision today upon the completion and release of its finding report from the May 27th Monitoring On-Site Review at DACC. The report cited repeated offenses of funds mismanagement, missing attendance reports and fabricated test scores within the Adult Education program’s Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Innovative Bridge and Transition (IBT) grant programs for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 as the determining factors for halting all state and federal funding to Danville Area Community College.
DACC has provided adult education programming for over 60 years and serves more than 400 Danville-area residents annually and operates with a budget of more than $500,000. The long-standing program will cease operations on September 30, 2026.
“The loss of funding will have a significant impact on adult learners who depend on the College for basic skills instruction, GED preparation, English language learning, workforce readiness, and pathways to further education and employment,” stated DACC Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Penny McConnell. “The news of the state report findings is devastating to the community and to our students.
The Illinois Community College Board’s report also obligates DACC to return $90,980.39, which were monies paid to specific personnel in excess of the approved budget and unsupported by documentation, directly misappropriated by two former Adult Education administrators. The report further obligates DACC to return an additional $56,481.34 for unapproved personnel budget modifications that were denied yet unspent for FY 2025. The multi-page report also confirmed the serious grant mismanagement concerns DACC identified in its Adult Education program last year.
“The College places its trust in its administrators to operate their departments in compliance with state and federal law, including the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act. This included the Adult Education program, which was tasked with using adult education basic skills and bridge funds to support qualified
instruction and meaningful career pathways for students”, explained DACC President Dr. Randy Fletcher. “Unfortunately, this trust was lost when my administrative team discovered inconsistencies in the online course offering system (among other things), where students were enrolled but did not receive any direct instruction for over three years.”
Fletcher went on to say, “The College’s immediate concern is for the students. The unsupported and unsubstantiated attendance data, test scores, and personnel expenditures that occurred within the department has all but eliminated essential adult education programming at Danville Area Community College. This is not at all reflective of our College’s mission or values.”
President Randall Fletcher (who was hired as DACC’s 8th President in August 2025), along with the College’s executive leadership team, conducted a six-month (October 1, 2025 to April 16, 2026) internal investigation into these anomalies, which included incorrect and falsified test scores, inaccurate grant performance reports, and improper disbursement of funds to pay for the instruction of courses that either did not exist, existed but had no student enrollment, or were not allowable by the IBT Grant approved scope and award rules. The investigation uncovered a pattern of misappropriation of ABE and IBT Grant funds for fiscal years 2022 to 2025. With the internal investigation complete, the College’s executive leadership team immediately notified both the DACC Board of Trustees and the coordinating body of the Illinois Community College System, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) of its findings.
Chairman Wolfe commented on the state report, “The ICCB report aligns completely with the findings of the College’s internal investigation. The Board of Trustees is grateful for the current administration’s leadership and commitment to the protection of the College’s students and taxpayer dollars. They inherited these problems in grant mismanagement, and now current leadership is fixing these problems.”
Wolfe continued by stating, “With the ICCB’s findings matching and reinforcing our own, DACC is moving forward with total clarity. We are executing an exhaustive, third-party forensic audit to completely rebuild our internal controls and ensure this never happens again. Our priority remains the protection of taxpayer funds, absolute transparency, and the uninterrupted support of our students.”
At the June 2026 DACC board meeting, trustees unanimously approved hiring CliftonLarsonAllen to conduct a five-year forensic audit of the college.
The DACC Board Chair concluded by confirming the DACC trustees support of Dr. Fletcher and his leadership during these unprecendent times for the college. “Upon taking office, Dr. Fletcher’s commitment to administrative integrity led him to uncover these hidden irregularities, halt the corruption, and self-report the data
directly to State and national oversight bodies and to the State’s Attorney office and the Danville Police Department.”
Danville Area Community College and the DACC Board of Trustees will continue to cooperate with the Illinois Community College Board, the State of Illinois, local and state law enforcement, and all other local, state and federal authorities, including the Higher Learning Commission (regional accreditor), regarding the grant close out of the Adult Education program, the ongoing law enforcement investigation and forensic audit inquiries surrounding the financial integrity of the College’s federal and state grant-funded programs during the fiscal year timeframe of 2022 to 2025.
The College has no further comment on this matter.”