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Rapunzel
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April 26, 2006
State to audit Fallsburg schools
By Paul Brooks
Times Herald-Record
pbrooks@th-record.com
Fallsburg - The Fallsburg School District has asked for a state audit of possible mismanagement by former Superintendent Walter Milton Jr.
The request comes after a routine annual outside audit of the district's books and procedures for the 2004-05 school year.
Among other irregularities, the auditors found:
- The district paid $80,000 in penalties for paying payroll taxes late.
- Milton charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses on a district credit card, but auditors could not determine if he had completely reimbursed the district.
- Many questionable expenses were charged to district credit cards, including more than $600 for a farewell party for a business official.
- Milton received $12,000 to cover his moving expenses from Rochester, but auditors said the moving contract they found was for $4,000. The $12,000 in moving expenses was not recorded in district financial records and was discovered through bank records.
- Auditors said there were errors made in calculating Milton's salary and that they could not determine if he had been paid correctly. He would have made $133,000 this school year.
Auditors called the problems "material weaknesses," or conditions that run the risk that "errors or fraud ... may occur and not be detected within a timely period."
Interim Superintendent Charlotte Gregory credited the school board for asking the state comptroller to come in as soon as possible. The state audit begins May 8, she said.
"We have stacks of stuff for them (the auditors) to go through," Gregory said yesterday.
Both Gregory and board President Robert Scheinman said they believe that no money is missing from district coffers.Steps have been taken to correct the shortcomings cited by auditors, they said. For instance, the district was able to get back more than two-thirds of the $80,000 in late tax penalties. It has eliminated district credit cards, too, Gregory said. The audit was done in the fall by the accounting firm of Gitlin, Knack & Pavloff, which has an office in Middletown.
Milton left Fallsburg Sept. 30 after two years as superintendent. He became superintendent of Flint, Mich., schools - a district with 21,300 students - compared with 1,400 students in Fallsburg. Last fall, he ran into trouble in Flint when it was learned he had not received all of the advanced educational degrees he claimed on his resume. Milton did not respond to messages left Friday, Monday and yesterday with his office in Flint.
"He was a very good educational leader," Scheinman said. "I believe a lot of the things he did he didn't believe were inappropriate. He just didn't know."
www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/26/news-pbfallsburg-04-26.html |
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Thu May 04, 2006 10:01 pm |
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plato
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New York auditors question Milton expenses
By Melissa Burden
mburden@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6316
FLINT — Auditors in Flint Superintendent Walter Milton Jr.’s former school district in New York question whether he fully reimbursed the district for personal expenses, was overpaid for moving expenses, and received the correct salary in 2004-05.
Milton reacted sharply to the summary of the audit, denying any wrongdoing and saying he is being made a scapegoat by the Fallsburg Central School District in southern New York.
“Everything I did was board-approved,” said Milton, who was superintendent in Fallsburg for two years before coming to Flint in October. “Anything outside that scope is slanderous and disparaging.”
Milton said he doesn’t want fallout over the Fallsburg audit to hinder progress on his sweeping plan to overhaul Flint schools. Parts of his plan are being debated by some in the community.
“To bring this type of distraction at this juncture would be disconcerting to this community,” he said. “We really need to keep the focus on our children.”
Fallsburg records, separate from the audit letter, show Milton repaid $1,232.48 in personal expenses made on his district credit card in the 2004-05 school year. The records contend he still owes the district $256.64.
The records, which don’t specify what the expenses were for, were obtained by The Journal through the Freedom of Information Act. |
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Fri May 05, 2006 10:55 am |
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rapunzel
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| Did Milton enroll his child in FCS? He said he would. |
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Sat May 06, 2006 2:47 pm |
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