It's easy to know what the total is for the entire board to spend on travel and training; right? 7 X $7,000. Many on the board can do that calculation in their heads. Some will need paper and pencil. And some might even need their calculators.
If each gets $7,000 and some have not yet hit their limit, how could the board, as a whole, already have spent over $49,000?
If a board member has not yet spent her $7,000, she should not be told not to submit any further expenses or requests for reimbursement!
The big question is WHO over-spent? Did only one board member exceed her allowance? Did more than one exceed her allowance?
If a board member over-spent her allowance, why was the excess amount paid? Is any travel allowance issued in advance?
What happens when a board member turns in her expense reimbursement request?
Does the Special Assistant to the Board review the forms before passing them into the system? What if she finds that a board member is asking for too much money, either in advance or as reimbursement - or, worse, charged to the District? Does she kick it back and ask for it to be corrected?
Has the Board Chair over-spent?
Has anyone else over-spent?
The supt. tried to make a case on April 26th for the information being private. How pathetic is that? These are public funds. Taxpayer-provided funds. Board members are fiduciaries. There is nothing "private" about their spending of public funds.
The District hasn't yet responded to my FOIA Request for the individual year-to-date spending by each board member and the total spent by the full board.
If any board member over-spent her $7,000 allowance, the District should request immediate repayment. If the money is not promptly paid back, it should be taken out of their per diem until the full amount is recovered.
