Published: July 03, 2009 11:19 am      

Officials cut costs at recent training event

Belt-tightening has evidently begun among key officials of the Cleburne ISD.

All seven school trustees and Superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard attended the annual TASB Summer Leadership Institute in San Antonio on June 10-13.

Three board members — Wendell Dempsey, M.J. Larrison and Brad Allen — stayed two nights at the Menger Hotel instead of three, reducing lodging expenses by a total of $438.57.

One board member, Allen, requested no reimbursement for travel or meals.

Dempsey and Beard requested no reimbursement for meals.

All eight key officials were in compliance with state regulations on allowable expenditures for lodging ($170 per day) and food ($72 per day).

“We go by state regulations,” said CISD chief financial officer David Johnson. “Rita Chase [Texas Education Agency auditor] has given us her interpretation of what TEA considers allowable expenses.”

The pre-tax room rate at the Menger was $132 per night. Beard and trustees Brent Easdon, Brad Mead, Stu Madison and Teddy Martyniuk stayed three nights. Dempsey, Larrison and Allen stayed two each. The hotel charges went on a school district credit card.

Beard, Larrison, Easdon, Madison and Mead were reimbursed $257.73 for mileage. Allen did not request reimbursement. Martyniuk has yet to file mileage paperwork.

Madison was reimbursed $84.76 for meals, Mead $82.30, Larrison $42.86 and Easdon $41.88. Beard, Dempsey and Allen did not request reimbursement for meals. Martyniuk has not filed paperwork for meals.

Mead submitted receipts for meals at Opie’s Barbecue, Rosario’s and Morton’s Steak House. Of the total $152.11, $82.30 was allowed. Madison also submitted receipts for meals at Opie’s, Rosario’s and Morton’s Steak House. Of the $208.22 total, $84.76 was allowed.

Mead and Larrison also asked for $50 in reimbursements for miscellaneous fees such as parking.

Travel expenditures by CISD board members and administrators became an issue last fall when community watchdogs Alden Nellis and Harold Gentry questioned the legitimacy of expenses incurred by CISD representatives while staying at the Adolphus Hotel during the Dallas Texas Association of School Board Conference.

They also questioned whether school trustees were considered key officials by the state and thus eligible for a greater reimbursement figure.

Chase ruled that superintendents and trustees are key officials, entitled to spend $72 per day for meals and $170 per day for rooms.

School district human resources director Randy Stone and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Dr. Darlene Callender, not “key officials,” were entitled to spend $36 daily for meals and $85 daily for rooms at Dallas.

All stayed at the Adolphus at a pre-tax cost of $174 per night. Beard stayed three nights, Callender and Stone two each, and trustees Larrison, Mead, Allen, Easdon, Martyniuk and Madison three nights each.

Stone and Callender reimbursed the school district $194.02 each for hotel rooms. Beard submitted reimbursement of $198.38, Martyniuk $200, Madison $13.08, Allen $13.08, Mead $13.08, Larrison $13.08 and Easdon $13.08.

Critics asked that Cleburne ISD seek less expensive accommodations in the future.

According to Cleburne board policy:

“Accounting records shall accurately reflect that no state or federal funds were used to reimburse travel expenses beyond those authorized for state employees. For any authorized expense incurred, the board member shall submit a statement, with receipts to the extent feasible, documenting actual expenses and in accordance with procedures applicable to employee expense reimbursement.”