John Hult

jhult@argusleader.com

The closure of a music academy for Sioux Falls youth left many readers with questions.

The announcement of the closure of the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy Thursday came as part of a cascade of stories about the non-profit’s founder, Chuck Brennan.

The organization offered free rock and roll performance training to kids through volunteer local musicians, and the loss was a blow to the families. Voice coach Paul Jennings said that for some of the kids “this was their life.”

Like Badlands Motor Speedway and its upgrades after Brennan’s purchase, however, the academy was made possible thanks to the business of payday lending.

The passage of the interest rate-capping Initiated Measure 21 has hit that business hard. Dollar Loan Centers in South Dakota have closed their doors, and Badlands Motor Speedway is up for sale.

Volunteer on academy closing: 'For some of kids, this was their life'

In the wake of the Rock and Roll Academy’s closure, however, several readers wondered about a claim about funding Brennan made in 2013.

It came after a fundraising concert in Las Vegas in 2013. The show had raised $1 million for charity, Brennan told the media. He also said at the time that he’d raised half of the $3.6 million needed to fund the rock school for 20 years.

Where did that money go, the readers asked?

In an email response to Argus Leader Media, Brennan said the academy’s split from the Boys and Girls Club of the Sioux Empire is the reason those two claims fell apart.

The Academy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, but it wasn’t one until March 1, 2015. Initially, it was a part of the BGC and only open to children in that club, which Brennan said handled the day-to-day operations and bookkeeping.

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The concert raised $1 million, Brennan wrote, but that was “surely the gross amount and there were many expenses behind an event of that caliber.”

“I am not sure what the NET amount raised from that event was to the BGSCE,” Brennan said.

In other words, the take for the academy wasn’t $1 million.

As far as having enough funds to keep the place running for 10 years, that was once again based on the assumption that the Academy would operate as a part of the Boys and Girls Club.

“All of that changed drastically when every expense was that of the (Academy),” Brennan said.

Brennan didn't elaborate on the reason for the split with the Boys and Girls Club of the Sioux Empire. When asked about the split on Friday, CEO Rebecca Wimmer offered the same statement her nonprofit issued in 2015.

"The BGCSE is thankful for the opportunity to be the exclusive recipient of BRRA services in the past but is looking forward to seeing the impact each organization will make individually in the future.”

Regardless of the reason, the split left the entire burden of funding and running the Academy in the hands of Brennan and his volunteers.

From March 2015 on, 90 percent of the money used to fund the rock and roll charity came from Dollar Loan Center, Brennan himself and his company’s investors, he said.

The Brennan Rock and Roll Academy filed just one IRS 990 form, for tax year 2015, and the largest dollar figure on it is far less than $1 million.

The form, which Academy's Operations and Curriculum Director Deb Rohrer released to the Argus Leader on Friday, lists $314,209 in total revenue.

Of that, $110,687 went to salaries, benefits and compensation for seven total employees, with Rohrer’s $72,000 salary representing the bulk of it.

The form lists $51,541 in fundraising expenses and $208,816 collected through fundraisers (two concerts represent the bulk of that take).

Ten cash donations from unnamed individuals are listed, ranging from $8,000 and $50,647.

The Academy had three Board voting members - Brennan, his wife and Micheel Moore of Dollar Loan Center, none of whom drew a salary – and 45 other volunteers.

Brennan encouraged anyone who donated and might have questions about their contributions to write the Academy at 900 W. 11th Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, and to include a copy of their donation receipt.

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617. You can tweet him @ArgusJHultor find him on Facebook at Facebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog