THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290271
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 154 lines
Among the special grand jury's key findings and recommendations:
Despite overwhelming evidence to justify prosecuting former School Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette, there is ``little practical purpose'' to be gained by his prosecution since the major sanction for this offense is the loss of employment. Similarly, because board members Robert Hall and Susan Creamer already have resigned, there is little point in prosecuting them as well.
School Board members June T. Kernutt, Elsie M. Barnes, Ulysses Van Spiva, Joseph D. Taylor, D. Linn Felt, Ferdinand V. Tolentino and Tim Jackson, and the director of budget development, Mordecai Smith, should resign immediately.
If they fail to resign, the Commonwealth's Attorney should seek indictments for malfeasance in office from the regular grand jury.
There is ``overwhelming evidence'' that Mordecai Smith, as director of budget development and chief financial officer; Sidney L. Faucette, the former superintendent; School Board members Kernutt, Creamer, Barnes, Van Spiva, Felt, Taylor, Hall, Tolentino and Jackson committed malfeasance of office.
Not included in the group were former board member James Darden and Charles Vincent, or their successors, Karen O'Brien and Donald Bennis. Darden resigned because of family health problems after one year. He served six months as chairman. Vincent was removed by the Circuit Court following his conviction for nine counts of unethical solicitation of a gift after serving eight months on the board.
``Because none of these individuals have served on the Virginia Beach School Board for an entire fiscal year, we do not feel that they have sufficient length of service on the board to be held accountable for the deficit that resulted in fiscal year 1994-95,'' the jury report said.
The jury made no recommendation in regard to Bennis, although it was ``quite disturbed'' by his decision to vote to reinstate Mordecai Smith as director of budget development.
There are insufficient ``outside'' checks to prevent a recurrence and therefore the board should agree to the proposed consolidation agreement that calls for the city to oversee the district's accounting, purchasing and finance functions.
The organizational structure of the school administration should be changed to reflect that the deputy superintendent is in the chain of command under the superintendent for all school divisions.
The district's internal auditor should report only to the School Board rather than the board and the superintendent jointly. This will have the effect of creating a financial ``inspector general'' to act as a check and balance on the superintendent, insure compliance with the law, generally accepted accounting principles, government accounting standards and School Board policy decisions.
State law should be changed to prohibit the interference by the School Board in employment matters except in the appointment of the superintendent, the clerk of the board, the internal auditor and legal counsel to the School Board.
The city and the school district should jointly purchase and operate advanced financial software to better provide more timely financial information to policy makers and budget directors.
The General Assembly should increase the penality for malfeasance in office from the existing $250 fine to a maximum of $100,000.
The School Board should adopt every recommendation from the financial audit prepared by KPMG Peak Marwick. Among them are: budgeted revenues from the Commonwealth should be based upon a realistic expected average daily membership from September to March; budget work that documents how the revenue numbers are calculated should be retained; budget revenue categories should be consistent with how actual revenue is categorized; budget unit directors should be provided two years of historical financial information to estimate budgets for non-payroll expenses. GRAND JURY MEMBERS
Name: Joan Perry Brock
Age: 53
Occupation: Assistant secretary and treasurer of the family-run Dollar Tree stores based in Norfolk
Background: She is a current member and past chairwoman of the president's advisory council at Virginia Wesleyan College. She is active in various art organizations, including serving as docent at the Chrysler Museum.
Name: Robert H. Callis Jr.
Age: 64
Occupation: Retired harbor pilot
Background: He served on the City Council from 1970 to 1976; was a member of the Virginia Beach School Board from 1978 to 1986; also served on the Virginia Beach Development Authority, the Eastern Virginia Medical Authority, the Virginia Resources Authority and is active in Galilee Episcopal Church.
Name: Robert A. Dardenne
Age: 61
Occupation: Certified public accountant; retired managing partner in the Price Waterhouse accounting firm
Background: Not available
Name: Anne Evans Gorry
Age: 53
Occupation: Certified public accountant in private practice
Background: She taught math in Virginia Beach school district from 1968 to 1978.
Name: James K. Gregory Jr.
Age: 54
Occupation: Retired vice president of commercial lending at NationsBank
Background: He is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. He also is a member and past president of the Virginia Beach Exchange Club, a 20-year-old community service organization; and a member of the advisory board of the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum.
Name: Richard D. Guy (jury foreman)
Age: 64
Occupation: Attorney with Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Giordano & Kahle
Background: He serves as a Virginia Beach Circuit Court commissioner in Chancery. He and Circuit Judge Robert B. Cromwell Jr. were former law partners. He also led a 1985 committee that examined the size and selection of the Virginia Beach City Council and served from 1970 to 1971 in the House of Delegates.
Name: Chester B. Long Jr.
Age: 49
Occupation: Senior vice president of Commerce Bank in Portsmouth
Background: As community service chairman for the Rotary Club of Hampton Roads, he hatched a successful fund-raising plan to buy the regional Red Cross a bloodmobile. An alumnus of Old Dominion University, he serves on the board of ODU`s Intercollegiate Foundation and has served as a trustee on several other ODU boards.
Name: Arthur G. McGowan
Age: 57
Occupation: Attorney in private practice
Background: Retired Navy master chief petty officer
Name: Martha Kellam Stone
Age: 44
Occupation: homemaker
Background: Daughter of semi-retired U.S. District Court Judge Richard B. Kellam. Attended T.C. Williams Law School at the University of Richmond but did not get a law degree; was a substitute teacher in Virginia Beach for a brief period.
Name: Earl M. Tebault
Age: 66
Occupation: a semi-retired Blackwater farmer
Background: He served on the City Council from the formation of the city in 1963 through 1972. He was named man of the year in agriculture in 1993. His wife, Laura H. Tebault, was a public health nurse who served on the Virginia Beach School Board. He was a member of the Blackwater Volunteer Fire Department and is active in the Creeds Ruritan Club, the Virginia Pork Producers Association, the Princess Anne Lions Club and the Virginia Beach Farm Bureau.
KEYWORDS: GRAND JURY VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD PROFILE BUDGET by CNB