DATE: Wednesday, June 11, 1997              TAG: 9706110438

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   83 lines

SCHOOL BOARD PUTS OFFICER ON LEAVE BECKY WESCOTT WILL BE OUT INDEFINITELY, ALTHOUGH WITH PAY.

The finance officer for the Dare County Board of Education, Becky Wescott, has been placed on administrative leave with pay for an undetermined period of time, school officials confirmed Tuesday.

Superintendent Leon Holleman declined to say what prompted the decision. He cited confidentiality restrictions governing personnel matters.

The school system has acknowledged cost overruns in recent weeks, prompting the cancellation of school field trips, cellular phone service for school buses and termination of the school's contract with a local physician to provide random drug testing for school bus drivers.

Attempts to reach Wescott at her home in Nags Head were unsuccessful.

The seven-member school board had a closed session at 6 p.m. Tuesday but officials said the Wescott matter was not discussed.

Wescott has been employed by the board for six years. Her salary is $53,000 a year.

``This is just a time-out,'' Holleman said, when asked to define administrative leave. ``It doesn't necessarily lead to another step. It's just taking a break.''

Dare County Board of Education Attorney Thomas L. White Jr. said administrative leave is an action ``the individual did not ask for. The (Board of Education) put her on leave.''

Last week the new Board of Education chairman, Fletcher Willey, called for a review of the school district's financial health. It is not known if Wescott was placed on leave as a result of that ongoing review by Holleman.

When contacted Tuesday morning, Willey declined comment, citing personnel protection.

A March 20, 1997, letter from the North Carolina Local Government Commission cited a number of problems in the school district's 1995-96 audit. Holleman declined comment when asked if these were the reasons for the action against Wescott.

The commission found the following areas of concern:

The school system's General Fund had a deficit of $38,121 on June 30, 1996. State law requires the Board of Education to fund the full amount of the deficit immediately after the end of the fiscal year. The Dare County school board met that requirement on June 10, 1996, through a budget amendment, Wescott wrote in a May 20, 1997, response to the commission.

The LGC letter also said expenditures exceeded revenues by ``a significant amount.''

``Also, in some cases, expenditures exceeded appropriations authorized by the budget ordinance,'' the commission wrote. ``Considering the financial condition of the General Fund, these situations cannot be allowed to continue.''

However, in a May 20, 1997, response, Wescott wrote that in the 1992-93 fiscal year, the Dare County Board of Commissioners instructed the Board of Education to use some of the district's $3,499,168 fund balance, which the county felt was too high. The school system budgeted $2,324,029 of the fund balance in the 1992-93 fiscal year.

``We have continued to use our fund balance to meet our funding needs, which is why expenditures have exceeded revenues,'' Wescott wrote.

A third area in the memo centered on a deficit in the school lunch program. In past years, school officials have readily acknowledged that they have had financial problems with the food service operation. In the letter to the commission, Wescott wrote:

``The School Food Service Fund has been receiving supplementary funding from the General Fund for years, from $150,000 to as much as $220,000,'' Wescott wrote. ``We are currently studying food costs, payroll costs, etc., by studying reports of like-size school systems.''

The district also plans to raise the cost of school lunches next year, Wescott wrote, to increase revenues. The district also plans to use inventory controls to stem food costs. The district, Wescott wrote, also plans an incentive plan for lunchrooms that turn a profit.

Wescott closed the letter by saying, ``We thank you for your letter, for it supports our position that without drastic cuts, we cannot continue to operate outside of budgeted appropriations.''

Vance Holloman, director of the Local Government Commission's Fiscal Management Section in Raleigh, was out of town and could not be reached for comment. The commission is an arm of the state treasurer's office.

The Wescott action is the latest tremor to hit the school board in recent weeks since the defeat of the proposed $59.5 million school bond issue. Last week, by a 4-3 vote, the Dare County Board of Education replaced Donna Buxton as chairwoman.

Monday, a state health official said that a new roof is needed at Manteo High School to eliminate bad air in the building.

On May 20, the bond issue was defeated by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

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