THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 11, 1997 TAG: 9701110275
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 91 lines
By signing their name to a one-page application and paying $45 for an FCC permit, several city school maintenance employees since 1995 have pocketed $1,080 each in annual incentive pay.
The school district offers such extra pay to employees who receive training or education that equips them with special skills or knowledge to enhance their work.
But an anonymous tipster alerted school officials to a problem: The Federal Communications Commission permit the workers received had nothing to do with their work in the school district's electrician shop.
The tipster alleged that the employees had pulled a fast one, passing off the permit as a much-tougher-to-get FCC first-class radio license that the district said qualified for extra pay. To get the license, applicants had to pass a test demonstrating a knowledge of radio electronics.
The permit the workers obtained, FCC officials say, is used primarily to identify pilots and ocean-going sailors who use a radio in international travel to communicate with foreign airports or ports of call. Essentially, it can be obtained by anyone willing to pay $45.
The five employees who received the permit help maintain school electronic equipment, including computers, fire alarms, TVs and audio-visual equipment.
After the anonymous complaint in late September, school officials investigated and cut off the extra pay in mid-December, determining that the permit-holding workers didn't qualify for it.
Since 1995, the five men had received a total of about $8,000 in additional pay, according to school personnel documents.
Deputy Superintendent J. Frank Sellew said, however, that there was no evidence the employees had abused the system. On Friday, Sellew said eliminating the pay was the only action anticipated by school administrators.
``I don't foresee any further action because I don't think there was the intention of fraud on the employees' part,'' Sellew said.
An electronics technician who received one of the permits, James D. Pritchard, said he thought it qualified employees for the extra pay. He denied that fraud occurred.
But Pritchard acknowledged: ``Basically, everyone knew (the permit) wasn't required to do the job. But it's like an electrical license isn't required for the electrical work. It's not necessary that a teacher has a master's degree, and they get extra pay for that.''
Joseph G. O'Brien, the school system's coordinator of security who investigated the complaint, wrote in a Nov. 19 memo to Sellew that the radiotelephone permit ``is of no particular value'' to the school system.
``One does not need any training, or education, to receive (the permit.) Further, the permit is not needed to . . . repair electronic equipment or to operate any of our equipment,'' O'Brien wrote.
The school system, O'Brien wrote, has ``very little, if any, need for `operating a transmitter on board an aircraft or vessel which will be communicating with foreign stations.' Therefore, it is highly questionable that the Radiotelephone Operator Permit fulfills the spirit, and intention, of the rules governing the issuance of supplemental pay.''
Since at least the late 1980s, a sixth employee in the electricians' shop had earned the extra $90 a month stipend by taking a test to obtain one of the FCC's first-class radio licenses. That employee repairs radio equipment used by the school system, and the license at one time was required by the FCC.
But he ended up losing the incentive pay, too. School officials learned during their investigation that the FCC no longer required a license to maintain the type of radio equipment used by the schools.
In his Nov. 19 memo, O'Brien wrote that the tipster alleged that supervisors in the school plant facility signed off on the FCC permits to enable the other five shop employees to receive more pay in a year that expected salary raises weren't given. Those supervisors no longer are employed by the school system, O'Brien wrote.
Besides paying a $45 fee, all the employees had to do to get the restricted permit was to sign a one-page application certifying they were eligible for U.S. employment, could keep a written log, could speak and hear and intended to engage in international flights or voyages.
Roger Noel, a senior engineer with the FCC in Washington, said: ``I think it's pretty clear what it's for. You wouldn't look at this form and say, `I'm going to repair radio equipment.' ''
Foster R. Baskerville Jr., supervisor of the electrician shop and one of the employees who received the FCC permit, according to school records, declined comment. He referred questions to school administrators.
The school district offers supplemental pay to teachers and administrators who advance their education, such as earning a master's degree. The pay is also offered to the district's blue-collar staff, such as maintenance and cafeteria employees, who receive certain training or skills that enhance their work.
A maintenance worker who receives a master journeyman's license, for instance, qualifies for $90 more a month in pay, while a cafeteria worker with a food service management certificate earns $65 more.
Sellew said the complaint prompted officials to review the supplemental pay policy to determine whether other employees were receiving pay they shouldn't. No other problems were discovered, he said.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS PERMIT