MisAdministration

In the context of the fall 2021 difficulties in Newberg OR, an article (District in Crisis) bubbled up that illustrates some of what can go wrong in school administration:

• inappropriate relationship between board and district administrator
• incompetent staff work
• lack of professionalism
• unintended consequences of successful recall elections
  [the district] has only one person working in the administrative office at the moment,and its [the adminstrator] Thielman. He fired the business manager and secretary after learning thatthe districts finances have been managed so poorly that the state of Oregon is nowdemanding that an outside auditor investigate alleged misuse of state and federal funds. The Douglas County Education Service District will handle payroll and accounting for the district for the next two years, because theres no one else to do it.
  The five-member school board will soon cease to exist, at least temporarily, because once the [successful recall of 3 board members] election results are certified on Nov. 22, there will be no quorum until the Douglas County ESD board appoints replacements. In the meantime, theres a power vacuum, and nobody seems to know who has the authority to make emergency decisions without a school board.
  issue with the school board members who were recalled is that they are too closely aligned with [the administrator], she said. When he proposed selling the districts entire bus fleet to Mid-Columbia Bus Co. for $284,000, for example, the board members went along with it, even though some argued that it was a bad long-term move and unnecessary. Critics also say the district shouldn't have hired Thielman in 2008, because he once faced an ethics charge in his last job in Washington state forfailing to make a timely return of extra salary he was inadvertently paid.
  [the complainant who orgranized the recall] being bitter that her sister- in-law is the ousted business manager, fired in September after the district discovered a slew of problems with the way she was handling the books, as are now well documented by the county Education Service Districts staff. Those include:Employees not being enrolled in the Oregon Educators Benefit Board, meaning they may not be eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance. Insufficient fund balances in the districts U.S. Bank account, on several different occasions. Failure to take out withholding taxes for four months during the fall of 2009, which meant employees had to come up with that money out of pocket at tax time. Miscalculation of transportation funds over a period of several years, which exposes the district to liability. A missing check register, or any record of checks issued by the district. District computers possibly used to do the books for a private company owned by the business manager's husband. An unusual number of pay rates for employees were incorrect. Social Security numbers incorrectly applied to employees. Significant issues uncovered regarding the Public Employee Retirement System and W-2 forms. Medical benefits provided to select employees without deducting the appropriate amount of salary to pay for those benefits.Cash flow miscalculations that resulted in a deficit of $100,000 once thought to be on hand for the current budget.

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