LETTER: Questioning school leaders on spending is crucial now

In depressed economic times, taxpayers are really focused on how those tax dollars are being used. Add to that focus the element of some publicly aired, jaw-dropping human errors, which a few of our top Madison County educational leaders have recently committed, and you have a county even more focused on how those millions are being dispersed. Board members, because of the bleakness of our financial climate, questioning your educational leaders about how, why, and where they suggest you spend our tax dollars is crucial.

During the 14 years that I served as a board of education member, I should have followed my own advice about questioning the educational leaders. I made many errors in judgment during my tenure. Many of my errors were made because I foolishly trusted the top leaders to provide me with the information needed to make good sound decisions. Sometimes, those leaders left out huge chunks of important information. For example, had the board of education, on which I served at the time, asked Keith Cowne more questions about his recommendation to hire our former superintendent, our latest scandal possibly could have been avoided. Cowne either chose to withhold certain details about the individual’s prior experience, or he, like me, did not do his homework. Big mistake. It cost us. Again, board members, I encourage you to question your trusted educational leaders as to how, why and where tax dollars are being used.

For starters, ask why it was necessary to increase the former superintendent’s salary by 3.5 percent during an economic crisis when teachers were being furloughed. According to information I requested on Wednesday, Aug. 11, from Bonnie Knight and Maureen Berryman, the former superintendent’s total salary package was already $183,337. Although the 3.5 percent increase would have been calculated using his base salary of $131,970, that still would have been an increase during difficult economic times when crunching budgets seems to be mandatory rather than optional.

Ask yourselves why you voted to give the former superintendent $40,000, plus his unused vacation time after he got caught with his hand in the penny jar. Is there a monetary value attached to “unused vacation time?” If so, what is this value? Doesn’t the compensation money come from local taxpayer dollars? Why was it necessary that he be compensated at all? Was it a legal issue due to the wording or lack thereof in his contract? He frequently chose to use the Madison County taxpayers’ computer on public school time to conduct a very graphic and public affair. He misused his discretionary and travel funds. Regardless of whether any employee is allowed to spend money that does not require board approval, should there not be a check and balance program in place in our system to monitor such expenditures? Misuse of the discretionary fund was not questioned until it was flagged by the state auditors in 2009? In the future, if any of our other employees exhibit behaviors similar to those exhibited by our former superintendent, will they too be compensated in such an obscene fashion?

Ask why it happened that you were not informed by your educational leaders and your board of education secretaries about a board member’s delinquent $13,000 insurance premiums that were paid for him using local tax dollars. I understand that “board policy” concerning board members paying their premiums was not in place at the time this occurred; but, if you all had been informed of this gross delinquency before it was uncovered in the 2009 audit, surely, you all would have taken action to stop paying the chairman’s insurance bill. I can’t understand why we are still waiting for a second resignation to happen.

Enough — until next week! What you do not ask your educational leaders will and can make a difference in how our tax dollars will be used. I urge you to question your new leaders as they continue to guide your spending of our money. In these tough economic times, it certainly seems like a common sense thing to do.

Also, I applaud the courageous, anonymous individual(s) who was/were responsible enough to inform you, the board, and the public of the very unpleasant and unfortunate situations recently brought to our attention. Remaining anonymous was a very wise choice in this matter. One must be careful when handling damaging information on someone who holds the ability to dismiss you from your job. Who knows what repercussions would have occurred. Jobs could have been jeopardized. I understand the reason for the silence and I appreciate the fact that their actions saved taxpayers hard earned dollars. TYVM.

Sincerely,

Elaine Belfield