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Post by Go Plainedge! on Oct 13, 2005 9:16:45 GMT -5
Guilty plea in Mineola boondoggle -------------------- BY KARLA SCHUSTER STAFF WRITER October 13, 2005 A former Mineola school official charged with using district resources to get tens of thousands of dollars in home improvements - including a fish pond - pleaded guilty to bribery and official misconduct yesterday and has agreed to repay what he stole, prosecutors said. John Jackson, 45, the former assistant superintendent of finance and operations, will pay the district $28,902, which represents the cost of patio materials and a home sprinkler system and money he stole to buy sod and landscaping materials for his Commack home. He also agreed to put up $45,300 in assets to cover bribes he received in the form of installation of a driveway and patio. Jackson pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree bribery and official misconduct and will be sentenced Nov. 28. Neither he nor his attorney, Dennis Lemke of Mineola, could be reached for comment. Jackson had worked in the Mineola district since 1998. He had been on unpaid leave from his $145,000-a-year job since January. His position has been eliminated by the district as part of budget cuts. Jackson was arrested in January and indicted later on charges that he ordered district groundskeepers to use school money to buy landscaping and shrubs for his home and then had that staff build him the koi pond and perform chores such as staining patio furniture, cleaning his garage and even hanging holiday light displays. A district vendor, Michael Crisci, 33, of West Islip, the owner of Infinite Painting Contractors Inc., was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument. His case is pending. Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc. -------------------- This article originally appeared at: www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limine134467266oct13,0,43764.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines Visit Newsday online at www.newsday.com |
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Post by justfacts on Dec 8, 2005 0:49:55 GMT -5
FYI Latest News on Suozzi's work:
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Suozzi attends summit with school board leaders
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BY KARLA SCHUSTER AND CELESTE HADRICK
STAFF WRITER December 7, 2005, 10:32 PM EST
School board leaders from across Nassau County met Wednesday night in what County Executive Thomas Suozzi called the beginning of a grassroots effort to bring more state education aid to Long Island, reduce school taxes and possibly consolidate services across district lines.
Billed as an educational summit, the two-hour, closed-door meeting comes a month after Suozzi, a Democrat who won re-election Nov. 8 by a wide margin and is expected to run for governor next year, publicly vowed to focus his second term on school taxes -- an issue over which he has no authority.
"Everything is on the table," Suozzi said. " ... this is a process that will take six months, a year, 18 months. It's a long-term effort."
Suozzi said the meeting was closed so school leaders could "talk freely," dismissing suggestions that his efforts might be fueled by a possible gubernatorial bid. "People will continue to say that," he said, "but regardless, nobody will disagree this is the number-one problem on Long Island."
Attending the summit last night, Michael Raab, president of the Freeport school board, called it "wonderful" and "amazing."
"Almost every single school district is here, represented by the president or vice president of the school board," he said. "What we did this evening was agree to be nonpolitical."
Ronald Walsh, a Republican who serves as president of the Locust Valley school board, noted Suozzi's Fix Albany campaign and its impact on state lawmakers capping local Medicaid costs.
"He didn't have any authority for Medicaid either," Walsh said. "Suozzi could very well be the horsepower to push this agenda forward."
Identifying the problems will likely be the easy part. Solutions, particularly controversial ones such as school consolidation -- even involving limited services such as transportation -- will be a tough sell, many say.
"Every community has different needs and priorities," said Plainview-Old Bethpage school board president Jonathan Mosenson, who wants to focus more on reforming the property tax structure. "Every district is unique, which is why we have local school boards to begin with."
Raab said attendees were going to break into small groups, with one committee looking at revenues to get a fair share of state funding for Long Island school districts and to fight for the state to pay for mandates.
Over the past two years, rising property taxes and suspicion fueled by the Roslyn school embezzlement case and alleged malfeasance in several other districts have led voters to reject a record number of Long Island school budgets.
Roosevelt school board member Carl DeHaney said the meeting was "very interesting, but the proof in the pudding comes six months down the line."
Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc.
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Post by justfacts on Dec 8, 2005 1:04:48 GMT -5
Here's another Audit by Hevisie - much like the recent one that Plainedge underwent. Maybe they just got tired of finding the same poor paperwork and undocumented expenses like they found at Plainedge - and decided to go deeper into the Wyandanch audit than they did at Plainedge.
Anyhow, here's the story:
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Wyandanch district audit sparks probe
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BY EDEN LAIKIN
STAFF WRITER December 7, 2005, 10:57 PM EST
State auditors have found a myriad of fiscal problems in the Wyandanch public schools, including cash advances to board members without receipts, prompting them to launch a full-scale review of the district's finances.
In an audit released Wednesday, Comptroller Alan Hevesi said that while the district has tightened financial controls, auditors had enough concerns to justify an expanded investigation. However, they declined to detail the issues they would focus on or when the examination would be completed.
School officials said Wednesday that many of the recommendations made by the state have already been put into place. School board president Michael Talbert did not return calls for comment.
"The board has rededicated itself to enforcing the existing policies ... and in addition has implemented modifications, which improve those policies," said Superintendent Frank Satchel.
The audit, which looked only at administrative expenses, found that three school officials were paid salary or given benefits without proper authorization. Other officials ran up excessive cell phone bills and provided inadequate "checks and balances over financial transactions."
"To ensure that public dollars are being used for legitimate school business, school boards must establish clear, written policies for spending and the board must adhere to these policies just as they expect staff to do," Hevesi said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, this did not always happen ... " he added.
The audit was the 17th of 25 school district reviews undertaken on Long Island by the Comptroller's office after the Roslyn embezzlement scandal unfolded last year.
The Wyandanch audit, which covered the period from July 2002 through August 2004, looked at expenditures by board members and school officials for travel, meals and cell phone usage.
Wyandanch has about 2,100 students, 400 employees and a $42 million budget this year.
Almost half the district's cell phone charges were for calls beyond what the plans allowed -- more than $17,000 worth. Also, the audit said a former superintendent received $4,500 in health-insurance benefits after retirement even though it wasn't in his contract.
The district has yet to receive receipts for 28 outstanding cash advances in the amount of $6,519, the audit found. Some date back to 1999.
Hevesi said he was moved to expand his inquiry in part by a federal audit that found that Wyandanch schools failed to fully account for $6.6 million in federal aid earmarked for student tutoring and teacher training. The report, released in October, also characterized the district as racked by administrative turnover and political patronage.
Staff writer Karla Schuster contributed to this story.
Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc.
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