A state audit has found three employees at two now-closed Montgomery Public Schools may have used school funds for personal use, including home repairs and parties. The employees worked at Harrison Elementary School and Houston Hill Middle School, which closed after the 2010-2011 school year.
The Examiners of Public Accounts presented its findings to MPS officials late last month. And the examiners found $8,403 in spending that was not school-related, including more than $4,000 of spending at stores like Sam's Club and Lowe's.
"It appeared that one of them was redoing their bathroom," said Charlotte Meadows, president of the Montgomery County School Board. "There's also the appearance there was a Cinco de Mayo party going on. It was pretty interesting, you could look at the Sam's Club receipt and see what was purchased and there were some pretty obvious things that didn't appear to be school related."
MPS administrators apparently had some concerns about what was happening at schools in the years before the schools closed, so the system requested the Examiners look at financial books at the schools during its regular audit of the system.
The audit covered the 2010-2011 school year - the last year the schools were open.
"Everybody was disgusted and shocked, we thought that was something that was over the top and not something that needs to ever be tolerated," Meadows said.
The employees involved have either been terminated by MPS or transferred to positions with less responsibility. They did not show up to a hearing in May to prove why they shouldn't have to repay the funds.
"The people who are responsible will be asked to pay it back, or there will be consequences," Meadows said.
The audit found other issues with accounting at those schools and some others in the system, but not find any large scale examples of financial abuse or mismanagement.
In a response to the audit's findings, MPS Assistant Superintendent for Finance Ron Glover said the system's local accounting staff provides regular training to school bookkeepers and principals - and will continue to monitor all of the schools for compliance with MPS and state standards.
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Audit showing questionable spending by former administrators at schools
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