Category — Audit Reports

The news that Cynthia Harris and Reis Willbanks were put on administrative leave this week brought back memories.

My honeymoon with PPS ended in 1997 thanks to John Braunger.  He was a terrible principal but PPS administration refused to do anything about it until he was caught mismanaging school funds. 

I was Binnsmead Middle School’s volunteer coordinator at the time.  A few people didn’t think it was appropriate for me to question Braunger’s performance so I resigned from the volunteer position.

In a memo to staff dated November 3, 1997, “RE: events of last week”, Braunger wrote:

Last week, you received a letter in your mailboxes from Ms. Bauske.  In the letter Ms. Bauske resigns her position as Volunteer Coordinator.  She has worked hard to establish a volunteer pool who can meet staff needs and those of the schools as a whole.  I appreciate what she has accomplished as Volunteer Coordinator and am grateful for her efforts.

In addition to resigning, Ms. Bauske alleges that school money is being mismanaged.  The district takes allegations of this kind seriously and has procedures to determine if there are any irregularities.  Should any be found, corrective action will be taken.  In the meantime, Laurie at the region office will be doing the books…..

Finally, Brenda’s doctors have advised her to take a medical leave.  We will miss her and hope she recovers soon.

Brenda was the school secretary responsible for doing the books. 

The next week I received a threatening letter from the PPS superintendent accusing me of “slander.”  

Four long months later after pushing for an audit report to be released, I  received a copy of the Binnsmead audit.  The report completed on November 13, 1997 found numerous irregularities.  Some of the findings included:

• Five requests for issuance of check forms did not bear evidence of administrative approval.
• Twenty checks were made payable to a specific staff member as reimbursements for purchases of supplies and other items ($3,787.94).  The checks should have been issued to the vendors.
• One additional $468 reimbursement to the same staff member did not appear to have any supporting documentation.
• Two checks reviewed totaling over $2,500 were issued to Nordstrom for the purchase of numerous gift certificates in amounts ranging from $20 to $100. 
• Three disbursements reviewed were purchases of invoiced goods with costs in excess of $1,000.  The transactions didn’t have the required pre-approval.
• One check reviewed was issued to a coffee store for $258.  The supporting request for issuance of check form indicated the expenditure was for refreshments.  Review of the store’s receipt indicated one gift certificate had been purchased.
• Nine student funds had deficit balances.
• The school’s checking account was overdrawn for two months causing $185 in overdraft fees.
• Deposits weren’t made in the required amount of time.

How seriously could the district possibly take allegations of financial mismanagement when the only difference between 1997 and now is the dollar amounts?  Who was responsible for following up on Jefferson’s financial mismanagement concerns?  The district let the Jefferson concerns go for a long time then addressed them right after a controversial meeting. Smart