When former Adult Education and Career Coordinator Monique Acevedo resigned March 3 after allegations surfaced that she bought a $300 pair of sunglasses and an airline ticket using her school district credit card, no one knew how wide-reaching the investigation into allegations of financial abuse would go.

Her resignation, announced by her husband, Schools Superintendent Randy Acevedo, launched two weeks' of daily revelations that have shaken the community's confidence in the school district and angered teachers and principals who've been asked to do without certain supplies because of a tightening school budget. Parents, taxpayers and school donors have been vocal in their disdain, as well.

Concerns about Monique Acevedo's personal purchases on district credits quickly gave way to worries about her regularly exceeding purchase orders. Then questions soon arose about the whereabouts of the ninth-graders' fundraising money and apparent discrepancies in the cash-only fees cosmetology students paid and the amount deposited. Monique Acevedo was in charge of both.

On March 6, a Friday, School Board Chairman Andy Griffiths, who said he was worried that "things" weren't moving quickly enough, dropped off two folders containing some of the Acevedos' district credit card records to Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward's office.

The next Monday, the school district released more than 1,000 pages of both Acevedos' credit card bills, store receipts, vouchers, and e-mails that revealed an apparent attitude toward spending that outstripped the public's imagination.

The enormity of the alleged financial abuse came to light -- that Monique Acevedo had purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of food, clothes, cosmetics, airline tickets, sports equipment and home furnishings, including a bed set, chandelier, lamps, pillows and other items.

The records show, for instance, that in November 2007, Acevedo charged $5,318.12 on her Bank of America credit card that's paid for by the taxpayer, and turned in no receipts at all, according to schools Finance Director Kathy Reitzel. Acevedo spent money in Walt Disney World-area stores and boutiques that month. Until her buying sprees can be compared to her travel dates, it's not known whether she was on a school-related trip or on vacation at the time.

On Wednesday, Key West High School Principal John Welsh told The Citizen that he'd contacted School Board attorney Richard Collins about absent paperwork, receipts and possibly non-deposited money connected to four fundraisers over which Acevedo had control.

Thursday, board members revealed state auditors had been asked to look into an adult education cosmetology program, formerly under Acevedo's control, that requires all participants to pay for courses, books and cosmetics in "cash only." At first look, board member Steve Pribramsky said, the deposits that should account for all of the students may be short by thousands of dollars.

And that was just the first week after the Acevedos' records became public.

The bigger picture

Though the Acevedos, school attorney and School Board members say they'll comment more once the Florida Auditor General's Office releases its auditors' findings, it's clearly been a week of revelations not seen in the district for a long time, if ever.

"It's sad, it's just bad," board member John Dick said Friday. "Marathon High School sent an e-mail to all the teachers that they're on their last box of staples for the year. ... Supplies have shut down, there's no more money, the paper's gone. I've talked to teachers, and they say, 'We don't have paper; we're not given any supplies.' "

Board member Debra Walker, who met with School Advisory Council members in the Upper Keys in the past month or so to encourage them to seek donations from the public to make ends meet, said she knows schools are low on operating funds.

"I'm surprised and disappointed in the [revelations]," Walker said Friday. "We're in Tallahassee working on the biggest issue facing Florida, which is the fiscal crisis. Legislators don't know what they're going to have to spend on education until the first week in April. Even business as usual isn't normal this year."

The board is responsible for overseeing the school system's operation, so it's not been easy seeing how quickly things can go out of control, board members said.

"I'm saddened and disheartened if it has been going on for a long time," Walker said. "I'm disappointed no one felt comfortable coming to a board member to address the issue."

The board has some work to do, Walker said.

"Personally, I'm OK, I'm not worried," she said. "I'm confident the board is strong enough and well-educated in the law that we'll fix it better than it has been for quite awhile. Florida policies and law are strong. No single individual can ruin the system."

Griffiths, on his way back to the Florida Keys from Tallahassee Friday, said he was "in the weeds" with the crisis. He knows the chaos of the past two weeks makes it look like the district is out of control.

"It's fair to call it a crisis. We're all in the weeds now," said Griffiths, a fan of analogies. "Right now, I'm on the ground with a fire hose and no longer in a helicopter. We still have to maintain a 10,000-foot view, however."

As Walker, he wants to tackle the problems the board was worrying about before the credit card crisis hit.

"We're in the big fiscal crisis in the schools, yet we're in another larger crisis," he said. "We have to maintain our focus on the 15 percent we may have to cut from our budget [because of state education cuts], not because of one rogue employee is affecting a small portion of our budget. Don't forget about the larger crisis."

For board member Steve Pribramsky, clearing employees that aren't misspending is a top priority.

"Once we get a forensic auditor, we should start by clearing the names of those who are following the rules and get their names out there fast," he said. "It's not fair to those who aren't doing anything wrong."

He hopes teachers and school administrators aren't losing their faith.

"It's a tough environment," he said. "I'd like to know, how are you operating, now that the CEO has lost his royal compass?"

Teachers stay focused

Though he and Dick have been the most vocal about the administration's fiscal reporting and have argued for better management of administrative travel, reducing contracts and better spending practices at school district headquarters, he's not gloating about the latest revelations.

"I'm sorry it's happening," he said. "It takes the eyes off what we're supposed to be doing. That's taking care of the kids."

School officials said they are concentrating on teaching and managing the education of children. Amber Bosco, principal of Poinciana Elementary School, for example, said she is keeping a calm ship.

"At our building, we are focusing on what we do every day -- teaching and instruction and doing what's best for our students," she said. "Today we had a great show to reward the students for reading more than 25,000 books. We're celebrating our successes."

Marion Smith, principal of Horace O'Bryant Middle School, also is concentrating on keeping the students on track.

"It's about the kids, and we've been 'business as usual,' " she said. "We're always doing something special. Our garden kids did their presentation at the Key West Garden Club. They took the Garden Club members vegetables they grew in the community garden and in our vegetable garden at school: tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, a few carrots and radishes."

It's the largest investigation facing the school district administration in many years, Griffiths and Walker concurred. Both have been board members for at least 16 years.

Monique Acevedo was first hired by the school district in 1994 as an office aide in the Adult Education and Career department. She worked her way up the ladder to become office manager in 2003 and then head of the department in 2008.

jguerra@keysnews.com