The Monroe County School Board's tires meet the road today. At least that's how board member John Dick sees it.

The board either will approve the return of administrators who have been blamed for lack of oversight -- or they won't.

School Board members are expected to consider whether punishment should be meted out to administrators who, according to a district investigation, failed to halt credit card abuse, theft and other financial irregularities. Board members can approve renewed contracts for administrators with a simple majority vote. Or they can make a motion to amend the list and seek votes on action toward specific administrators, from a simple reprimand to demotion or termination.

Acting Superintendent Mike Henriquez posted his recommendations for contract renewals on the district's Web site, but some board members have complained the list has changed at least once since it was posted.

More than a reprimand

"You don't think the list will be approved on the consent agenda, do you?" Dick asked rhetorically Monday. "I will go on record that a reprimand is not enough for what has happened here. Between the actual fraud and the cost of the investigation, it's costing the school district over a million dollars. To me, a reprimand wouldn't hack it."

A June 9 investigator's report cites several administrators -- including Henriquez, Finance Director Kathy Reitzel and purchase card administrator Linda Walker -- for failing to maintain financial controls that would have prevented what appears to be a pattern of illegal purchases by former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo.

Acevedo allegedly failed to turn in student fees and other cash collected for cosmetology courses, and did not submit credit card receipts and other purchasing documentation for five months. She is suspected of using her card to make personal purchases.

Vocational Education Coordinator Mark Hooper also was cited in the report for not turning in credit card receipts for nearly nine months, and Transportation Director Dori Collins was cited for using the school credit card assigned to Construction Director Chuck Freeman and for allowing Acevedo to use Freeman's credit card to purchase lumber.

Must have cause

"If there's a person we want to single out, we have to have cause," board member Steve Pribramsky said. "I want to see some demotions, and at some point I want to see the board reprimand the group as a whole, by either not returning [them] at all or not having them in the position they're in now. This is not about a reprimand."

Pribramsky said he worried the original list of recommendations Henriquez posted a week ago has changed significantly -- the list must be made public at least seven days before the board can vote on them. The board has until July 9 to notify employees.

"This is very troublesome to me that the list keeps changing," Pribramsky said. "[Business and Fiscal Services Executive Director] Pedro Fraga's name was on Mike's list to be returned next year on an annual contract, but he is now on the list of retirees," he said. "There are a lot of names that aren't on Mike's list that were there last week," he said Monday.

Need for paper trail

In an interview two weeks ago, board member Debra Walker said she'd prefer employees in the future be given a paper trail of letters of warning, written reprimands and other administrative corrections before they're dismissed outright.

"My immediate thoughts are to follow our attorneys' recommendations," Walker said Monday. Attorney Latour Lafferty told the board last week that actions by administrators cited in the June 9 report might not be cause for termination. He characterized their lack of oversight as failing to do their jobs, not as criminal misbehavior.

Board Chairman Andy Griffiths did not return calls for comment by press time Monday.

Board member Duncan Mathewson repeatedly has said he wants to see "consequences" for district employees who failed to prevent the collapse of internal financial controls.

The board is awaiting the appointment by the governor of an interim superintendent, who also could determine who will retain their jobs. That appointment might not come until August, however.

Job requirements

Dick also wants the board to discuss administrators with high school degrees who, on average, make $75,000 a year. Teachers with bachelor's degrees and doctorates don't earn that much, he said.

"It's not about the people in the positions," Dick said. "It's about equity in salaries."

Dick has compiled a list of positions for which job qualifications were reduced from bachelor's degrees to general equivalency degrees or high school diplomas.

"Several job requirements have apparently been changed to allow people with a high school diploma to hold jobs," Dick said.

One such position is assistant director of facilities, which used to require a bachelor's degree in engineering. The position was renamed "assistant director of maintenance," which requires a high school diploma or GED. The position pays $77,000.

The transportation director's job used to require a bachelor's degree, but was changed to require an associate degree. The person in that job has some paralegal training, Dick said.

The food service and purchasing director, a single position, still requires bachelor's degree, but the person in that position only has a high school diploma, Dick said.

Also on the agenda

The board also is expected to:

• Discuss contracts for Business and Fiscal Services Executive Director Pedro Fraga and Title 1 Director Eleanor Garcia. Both are retiring, but will work as consultants on annual contracts that can be canceled with 30 days notice. The two are vital until their positions can be advertised and filled, Henriquez said.

• Hear from the investigator the School Board hired as he finalizes his reporting to the board. He was to review a new batch of credit card receipts dating back to 2003. The board asked him to report on credit card use by John Andola, the district's Adult Education and Vocational Education director until 2005. He was Acevedo's direct supervisor.

• Consider contracts with Outward Bound; out-of-county travel, Century 21 summer program funding and other contracts.

jguerra@keysnews.com