Audit Describes 8 Years of Looting by L.I. School Officials

[Earth_First]

Audit Describes 8 Years of Looting by L.I. School Officials

For eight years, the top officials of an affluent Long Island school district systematically plundered taxpayer funds, illegally diverting at least $11.2 million to themselves, relatives and cronies for an array of goods and services, from a 65-cent bagel to a $1,812-a-night hotel suite to a mortgage on a luxury home in Florida, a new state audit says.

Besides using district funds to cover $1.1 million in cash withdrawals on personal credit cards, district officials shopped extravagantly at taxpayers' expense, the records show. The purchases included $18,605 for artwork from Galerie Lassen on Maui in Hawaii, $14,033 for pet supplies, $19.95 for vitamins, $81,637 to repay a college loan, $3.05 for a latte and $4,045 to a company for such merchandise as a manicure and pedicure kit, a Sony shower radio and an Aquabot Ultra Pool Cleaner with remote control.

The audit concluded that Dr. Tassone took a total of $2.4 million, and his former assistant superintendent for business, Pamela Gluckin, was responsible for $4.6 million in unauthorized spending. Ms. Gluckin's lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/03/nyregion/03roslyn.html

[shoelace414]

1. freepers will use this to argue for School Choice

[LiberalEsto]

4. H-a-l-l-i-b-u-r-t-o-n

According to their logic, we should also have free choice for government contractors.

[LynzM]

2. Niiiice.

Is there no one who can look money in the face and not somehow feel justified in taking what isn't theirs? I'm not positive I could do it, either, so I'm probably not in a place to make that judgment, but damn, that's a lot of money!

[Bridget Burke]

3. "We just keep throwing money at schools....."

I'm all for helping the students & good teachers. But if half the administrators disappeared overnight, would they be missed?

[BanzaiBonnie]

6. And the reason we must have so many administrators

is to make sure all federal regulations are followed so we can get our own money back from the federal government.

And then someone goes and does something like this! Incredible.

The problem is, someone will come along and say --- okay we need more regulation on this sort of thing. But you can never make enough new laws to cover every instance. Then we'll have to hire another administrator to keep track of that law.

[theboss]

5. Washington DC had a similar scandale a few years ago

Except that was misuse of teachers' union funds.

[indepat]

7. Wonder why some of this wasn't caught seven years ago: an audit

every eight years?