THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
After testifying before a special grand jury for nearly six hours Thursday, former school superintendent Sidney L. Faucette emerged from the closed courtroom, smiling, to say he was impressed by the questions he'd been asked.
``I tried really hard to give them the information I could,'' Faucette said before leaving the courthouse to catch a plane. ``I was impressed with the grand jury, with the quality of their questions.''
Faucette, who was accompanied by local attorney Kenneth V. Geroe, will likely be one of the last people to testify before the panel that is probing the Beach school district's finances. The division ended the 1994-95 fiscal year with a $12.1 million shortfall. Faucette was superintendent for four years before leaving to head schools in Gwinnett County, Ga., this summer.
The jury began meeting in December, and Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys has said the jurors' work might be done as early as this month.
Faucette declined to speak specifically about his testimony, saying only that he'd discussed ``school finance'' and ``personnel.''
Geroe would not allow Faucette to respond to questions about the possibility of criminal charges arising out of the investigation.
Asked what brought about the worst fiscal crisis in the district's history, Faucette replied, ``I think that's why the grand jury's here.''
Intense public pressure has mounted for answers about the circumstances leading up to the district's shortfall. An independent audit found troubling patterns of poor financial management but stopped short of naming names. Many in the community are hoping that the grand jury's report on its investigation will be made public and will answer lingering questions.
Faucette had warned board members in December 1994 of a possible deficit if spending was not sharply curtailed. He reassured them after that, however, that the matter was in hand.
In a report prepared for the Gwinnett school board in November, Faucette cited the Beach district's financial staff, the creation of a school board budget review committee, and city officials and their finance system for the problems.
``I have no interest in placing blame on anyone,'' he said Thursday.
Faucette said board members here were kept informed during his tenure, and he believed ``the school board was aware of what was going on as far as financial matters.''
And he said despite offers to return and help clear up the matter ``the only one that's invited me to Virginia Beach to discuss this issue . . . is the grand jury.''
In November, a united Beach school board approved a resolution urging Faucette to return and appear before the jury. While board members considered asking him simply to return and explain himself, they later decided that they wanted that commentary under oath. Because he lives out of state, the jury could request Faucette's return but not subpoena him.
Earlier this month, the board here refused Faucette's request to pay his legal expenses related to the shortfall. Humphreys had said that the grand jury could reimburse him for travel expenses related to his testimony.
Faucette said he was paying his own way Thursday. ``I'm here at my own expense - 100 percent.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY
The Virginian-Pilot
Sydney L. Faucette, right, former Virginia Beach school
superintendent, heads to the special grand jury at the Virginia
Beach courthouse, accompanied by attorney Kenneth V. Geroe.
KEYWORDS: GRAND JURY VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS TESTIMONY by CNB