UPDATE: IRSD officials respond to audit report
The Indian River School District is responding after a host of allegations against their former chief financial officer and the district itself.
A report from the Delaware state auditor released Thursday comes after months of a special investigation into the school district’s finances.
Dr. Susan Bunting, superintendent of the Indian River School District, says there was never any indication finances were being handled inaccurately. The report audited finances between 2012 and 2016 under the eye of former chief financial officer Patrick Miller.
“He’s been working in the district for nearly 20 years. The board had established great trust in him,” says Dr. Bunting.
The report found big purchases allegedly made by Miller were directly from the school district’s money. For example, he allegedly splurged on a Teacher Of The Year award ceremony and hosted it at Baywood Greens for 7,000 dollars.
Assistant Superintendent Mark Steele says they immediately took action and placed Miller on administrative leave in April. The school district self-reported to the auditor’s office after complaints of financial misconduct.
“We had information that was passed on to some board members that paralleled at the same time and when that happened, that’s when people came forward to say we have some issues that we need to look into,” explains Steele.
Even with this audit, school officials admit there are purchases deemed inappropriate by the report that they don’t agree with, including a Tiffany’s bracelet purchased for Dr. Bunting in recognition of being a finalist for the 2012 National School Superintendent.
At a press conference Friday, Charles Bireley, president of the Indian River Board Of Education, he thought the money for the gift came through a grant at the time.
“To us, it was a small amount to give to herself like that. So I certainly agree with it,” says Bireley.
Moving forward, Dr. Bunting says they will implement a number of fiscal management practices such as no direct payments made to an organization on behalf of any community leader.
There is also a policy of no food purchases by administrative staff made with district funds, unless it is for student instructional purposes.
“We will correct the errors according to what have been deemed errors by the auditor’s office, but we will move forward,” she says.
Steele adds, the biggest takeaways from this incident are the need for more oversight and implementation of policies.
The creation of policies and procedures that explicitly outline the financial transactions steps are expected to be reviewed with all Indian River employees.
