Beaufort County schools have $30 million slush fund

After reviewing Beaufort County School District’s Procurement Card Transparency Reports, I concluded these “P Card” expenditures were siphoning too many school tax dollars out of the classroom.

I discovered $11,729 in P Card charges to local restaurants between May 1 and May 5.

Over the same time frame in 2011 there were no restaurant charges to P Cards. What has changed?

At the current rate of spending, P Card charges in the hands of only 51 school district employees are estimated to be $30 million for fiscal year 2017.

This “hidden in plain sight” spending program, until now, has eluded school board oversight.

Board members Christina Gwozdz, JoAnn Orischak and David Striebinger have requested that the topic of Procurement Cards be added to the agenda for a board meeting or committee meeting.

I ask board Chairman Earl Campbell to bring their request to the full board for oversight, rather than bury this $30 million slush fund in committee. I submit that a forensic audit is the only way trust can be reestablished between the constituency and school district leadership.

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Beaufort County schools have $30 million slush fund."