THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130282
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 72 lines
The city's struggle to close debate on a $12.1 million school division deficit entered its final phase Monday with the opening of a trial for School Board member Tim Jackson and former board member Ferdinand V. Tolentino.
They are accused of malfeasance in office, a misdemeanor offense both deny having committed while serving on a board that in the 1994-95 fiscal year spent more money than it was given.
Most of Monday's session in Circuit Court was devoted to selecting the jury - seven jurors and two alternates. Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys, who will present witnesses today, allowed an assistant commonwealth's attorney, Cynthia Shepherd, to open the prosecution's case.
She began by telling the jury that the central issue is accountability and the stewardship of public money.
``They accepted that responsibility and by doing so took on the public trust,'' she said.
Jackson and Tolentino were warned by the previous school administration that deficits were looming, Shepherd said, but they continued to approve spending money at a rate of $30 million a month.
The deficits that emerged plunged the district into a crisis unique in the commonwealth's second-largest school division and prompted a special grand jury that recommended the regular grand jury seek indictments.
The deficit was overcome by imposing a strict series of spending limits and providing a cash bailout by a reluctant City Council, which continues to seek accounting reforms.
Shepherd cited both state law and the district's own bylaws, which prohibit the board from spending more than it receives from its three principal sources of money: the state, the city and the federal government. In the 1994-95 fiscal year, the school division's budget was about $344 million, yet the School Board ultimately approved spending of about $350 million, Shepherd said - about half the deficit that eventually resulted.
While the prosecution focused on the letter of the law, the defense strategy relied on a more practical interpretation of how any board member would do the job.
Jackson's attorney, Moody E. ``Sonny'' Stallings, took exception to Shepherd's many statements, arguing that his client had repeatedly questioned budget figures supplied by the school administration only to be assured no deficit would occur.
``From his very first meeting, he submitted memos right up until the end asking about the budget,'' Stallings said, ``and he was told there was enough money.''
Stallings said Jackson's worries were calmed by former school Superintendent Sidney Faucette, who resigned amid the financial crisis, and by former chief financial officer, Mordecai Smith.
Stallings then asked rhetorically, ``How do we know how much money is coming from the city, the state and the federal government? Estimates. It's estimated. They missed by less than 2 percent. And for all their work, for a part-time job that requires hours of work a week, they are prosecuted like common criminals. . . .''
Stallings argued that the money went for services the district needed, such as salaries and other operational expenses.
``What would you have had them do?'' Stallings asked the jury. ``What did they do wrong that you would have stopped? Not pay teachers? Shut down the schools?''
James Broccoletti, representing Tolentino, began to pick away at the commonwealth's charges by showing in several instances where board members openly worried about the budget and were told all was well by the former administration.
``What more could they have done,'' Broccoletti said, ``when the experts at the city gave them incorrect information?'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by CHARLIE MEADS, The Virginian-Pilot
Ferdinand Tolentino, left, and Tim Jackson each face a misdemeanor
charge of allowing the Beach school system to run up a deficit. by CNB