GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. – The Genesee Intermediate School District has fired a top-level administrator, and a state education department employee has been placed on leave, MLive reported.
The GISD fired the administrator, Beverly Knox-Pipes, after reviewing an audit that alleges that more than $87,000 had been misspent, according to MLive.
MLive reports that the audit raises questions about money spent on cell phones, computers and travel, and alleges that one California conference for which Knox-Pipes received travel reimbursement “does not seem to exist.”
The audit also states that Knox-Pipes took trips with Barbara Fardell, manager of educational technology at the Michigan Department of Education, reports MLive.
In one email exchange included in the audit, MLive reports, after realizing that more than $1 million remained in a grant, Fardell wrote: “You and I may have to take some trips WAY far away to spend this much money!! LOL!!”
SOURCE: MLive, “Lawmaker calls for accountability, state education department worker put on leave as details of GISD investigation emerge” Aug. 24, 2012
FURTHER READING: Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “Eliminate Intermediate School Districts,” Aug. 21, 2003
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