Enough is enough. This board has to make decisions to earn back trust. Secret stipends 55 @ $5000, secret promotions, Flip Flippen secret expenses and video fiasco, putting the CFO on admin leave, a lawsuit filed against the district by the CFO, a lawsuit filed by our insurance carrier wanting out of the first lawsuit, DESE investigating our summer school funding practices IN ADDITION to a State Audit investigation and an ongoing FBI investigation. When will this board open their eyes to what is happening in front of all of us? Editorial in todays paper.... The St. Joseph School District is testing the faith and resolve of every parent, taxpayer and business leader who looks to the district leadership for excellence and comes away disappointed. The latest disturbing development is the loss of $1.85 million in expected state funding due to mistakes in how our summer school program was run and reported to the state. The failings are multiple and they cannot be explained away as mere oversights, misunderstandings or differing interpretations of state requirements. The district is heavily dependent on state funding, and as such it is compelled to be on top of the rules and regulations. Perhaps something obscure could slip by, but nothing like the issues that were raised by the regulators. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education found, contrary to longstanding regulations, the St. Joseph district applied to receive reimbursement for courses that were not district-sponsored and for which fees were charged for participation; and for courses that consisted of day care services for which a fee was required. It seems remarkable anyone involved with the summer school program could expect the state would willingly provide money for an activity for which a fee was being collected, even if by a third party. The state also was said to be concerned about programming that consisted primarily of athletic team or band practice. No one at DESE was saying a district could not sponsor practices, but the objection clearly was over why that should be a reimbursable educational expense. The district offers the defense it provided, and paid for, certified teachers for the questioned activities, including those for which outside organizations charged a fee. Since the district received no part of the fee, it presumed it was eligible to seek state reimbursement. Clearly, this was a bad presumption — inexcusable not just in the current climate, but anytime when millions of dollars are at stake. The current administration and board of trustees have virtually no margin for error in seeking to demonstrate they are entitled to the public’s trust. This episode is a blot on the record that has nothing to do with stipends, FBI investigations or state audits. Simply, it has to do with competence.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 14:25:11 +0000
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