THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300026
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Victoria Lewis' husband says she has the tenacity of a thunder turtle. And that's a good thing.
As the new internal auditor for the Virginia Beach school system, Lewis will need all the relentlessness of the mythical Southern critter that won't release something it has bitten until there's a clap of thunder. Her role as monitor of how the division's resources are used could be pivotal to restoring public trust in the financially troubled school system.
``The best part of coming into a situation like this is you're part of the cleanup. You're part of setting it right,'' Lewis said recently as she finished her first month on the job.
``I feel much better that someone is in that job,'' said School Board member Elsie M. Barnes. ``It's very, very important that we restore the public confidence in our ability to oversee school affairs.''
Lewis is a product of the Virginia Beach school system, a graduate of Princess Anne High School who sometimes bumps into former teachers or guidance counselors as she goes about her work.
She headed off to Catholic University in Washington planning to major in piano performance, but ended up switching to math.
``I didn't think I wanted to do music to the exclusion of everything else in life,'' she said. ``There are a lot of patterns that are similar in music and math.''
If math taught her numbers, music taught her discipline. As a child, her twice-weekly piano lessons began at 6:30 a.m. and she participated in recitals every Saturday. Lewis said she still plays her Steinway when time allows.
After graduating from college with a major in math and a minor in piano performance, Lewis worked on a master's of business administration degree and passed her certified public accountant examination while working in the accounting and auditing field. She most recently worked in the Norfolk Public Schools, where she was senior auditor.
``I recommended her highly for the job (in Virginia Beach) but didn't want to lose her,'' said Dan Seacrist, director of accounting for the Norfolk schools.
When Lewis applied for the Beach job, the depth of the division's financial problems - a shortfall of $7.4 million for the 1994-95 fiscal year - was not known. Even if the crisis had been public at that time, Lewis said she still would have applied.
``If anything, it would have made it more interesting,'' she said.
Lewis and the division face a challenging future. The internal auditor's position has been vacant since Kevin A. Jones left in April. The school district's top leadership recently revealed a potential $6.6 million shortfall for this year if stringent spending measures are not followed. And the imminent release of a much-anticipated audit report of the 1994-95 budget by an outside firm should begin to pinpoint some of the places the division's finances ran out of control.
A School Board discussion of that audit put Lewis in the hot seat only a few weeks into the job, forcing her to draw on the poise gained through years of public performance. Called to the podium during a board meeting, Lewis was grilled by some members over the questions that would not be answered in the audit.
Barnes and others said their inquiries were not a reflection of anger toward Lewis, but of a concern that board members get their questions about the shortfall answered.
For her part, Lewis can joke about the episode.
``We already know I'm thick-skinned,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: ``The best part of coming into a situation like this is you're
part of the cleanup,'' says Victoria Lewis, new internal auditor for
Beach schools.
by CNB