Liberty school audit reveals sketchy transactions
From Sunshine Review
Liberty School District in Clay County, Missouri was audited by Westbrook and Company in June 2008. The audit revealed spending by the administration on 14 pitchers of beer for six people reimbursed as a recruiting expense, a $143 flower delivery sent to the superintendent's wife and the superintendent using credit card points to buy Oakley sunglasses, golf clubs, lavish meals and rental car vouchers.[1]The audit also reveals that two major bond issues exceeded the budget by roughly $13 million, partly because of a lack of budget controls. Projects included two construction projects were split into smaller projects so they could circumvent a state statute requiring them to put projects costing more than $15,000 up for bid. Another revelation included two building projects in 1997 and 2000, the district went over budget by $5.9 million and $7.7 million, respectively.[2]
[edit] The investigation
Retired government auditor James Moore has been working with whistle blowing parent William Walker. Walker obtained district receipts through the Freedom of Information Act. When that failed the pair organized a petition drive asking for the district to order an audit on the school Over 2,700 signatures were collected in order to call in a state auditor.
"I would hope they name names, I would hope they fix responsibility, and more importantly, the citizens are looking for consequences for the actions," Moores said.[3]
[edit] Consequences
Superintendent Phil Wright resigned and two other administrators were suspended. Last week, Wright said he was forced out. Questions have been raised if there will be a criminal investigation to the spending.
[edit] Transparency
If the credit card reciepts were posted online, there is the question of if these crimes could have been prevented.
