The Monroe County School Board has put things back the way they were before suspended Superintendent Randy Acevedo crafted the Adult Education coordinator position for his wife, Monique.

Adult Education and Vocational Education have been combined into one department again, called the Career Education and Adult Education Department, with one coordinator whose required qualifications have been restored to state standards.

Board member Steve Pribramsky said merging the departments under a single professional manager will repair public perception of favoritism.

"We really got off track," he said. "With the prior director heading toward court, it was the right thing to do. It gives us an opportunity to get ourselves a very skillful person in place."

The board on Aug. 25 approved the search for a coordinator who has at least five years' experience; a master's degree in education; a valid Florida driver's license; and a Florida Department of Education certification. The salary has been cut to a base of $50,000, which will increase commensurate with the person's experience, board member John Dick said.

Former Vocational Education Coordinator Mark Hooper was transferred to a temporary post as a counselor with the Keys Center Academy.

Though Hooper is working toward the master's degree required for the job, his future with the school district is uncertain, as he was among those blamed in the financial scandal. Interim Superintendent Joseph Burke is assessing whether to discipline him and others.

Since shortly after Monique Acevedo resigned March 3, Horace O'Bryant Middle School Assistant Principal Jeff Arnott has been whipping the department back into shape. He has replaced the loose financial accounting and cash-only student fees for courses in cosmetology, General Educational Development (GED) Tests, and English for Speakers of Other Languages, board members said.

"He's changed things around and brought adult education's financial practices into compliance," Dick said.

After John Andola retired in 2005, Deputy Superintendent Mike Henriquez split the department with two coordinators, one for Vocational Education and one for Adult Education, under a plan Randy Acevedo approved.

Acevedo then put his wife, who didn't meet the job's original requirements, in charge of Adult Education without advertising the position or informing the School Board.

Management Advisory Group, which the board hired to review the district's job descriptions and supplemental salaries, quietly changed the requirements for the Adult Education coordinator to needing only a valid Florida driver's license and a high school diploma or GED.

The consultant made the change because officials considered Monique Acevedo to be an office manager, despite the fact that even an office manager position requires an associate degree, which she also lacked, Dick said a spokesperson for the company told him.

"It was a contrived situation," Pribramsky said of merging the departments. "It didn't align with the public good and we're very glad that we're going to require a master's degree for the job, because that's what it takes."

Dick, Pribramsky and board Chairman Andy Griffiths have asked the board's financial investigator, Richard Fechter, to seek reimbursement of $90,000 from the Management Advisory Group, which is the amount it charged the district to conduct the salary study.

"Whether Randy bullied them into changing the coordinator job requirements to fit his wife's education level or not, what they did was inexcusable," Pribramsky said.

jguerra@keysnews.com