IF ONLY YOU KNEW?
Well folks, the "Press Enterprise newspaper" dida perfunctory articule on money missing from student fundcoffers at three Moreno Valley Unified schools and how the district'saccounting department was soooo contrite.
They are going to fix those schools!Attendance and all! If only those three schools represented the real problems.The fiscal wrong doings at Moreno Valley Unified School District are rampantand well beyond any three schools. So too, it has been alleged thatsuch abuses extend back at least 15 years. However, the problems worsened and becamemore obvious under former Assistant Superintendent Robert Wallace Crank. Crank,eliminated all positions of fiscal over sight regarding MVUSD'S loosely andrandomly regulated student fundraising. There has not been anymeaning full systematic structure for handling and accountability in that 15year span . No training of state aligned methods or manuals, bookkeepingsoftware has been mysteriously been wiped out completely (with no server levelback up to be found), on ASB account’s computers. Amazingly, on at least three ocassions; just aheadof some official inquiry by an outside agency or the treat thereof.
I do not however, think of the new Superintendent Dr. White ascomplicit. I believe though she has been kept uninformed by individuals withvested interest in keeping these things hidden. In any case, most of the personnelwho knew the truth have left the district by now. Some retired some forced out by a VERY complicit school board Those whohave not gone and might speak honestly, are systematically being forced out by deceit,harassment, and lies in the hopes ofsilencing the truth once and for all and avoiding an incredible amount of liability andembarrassment. The majority of this unethical and sometimes illegal actioncomes from a top administrator who 20 days into his new job at MVUSD, said he “wasgoing to clean up the reputation of HR.” referring to the unethical behaviorsnotorious of the previous HR Director.
I am referring for the moment, of nearly half a million dollars a year. May bemore? Probably more. Stolen, misplaced, misappropriated, or just gone. One of theproblems is almost all fundraising is done in cash. Due to thelogistics of handling returned checks, the schools seldom take them anymore. Large sumsof cash were kept in just about any lockable container. Sometimes for months onend. As an example: In a singular ac, five years ago, $10,000 in cash wasstolen directly from the safe at one MVUSD middle school. Under the circumstancesI was told, it took less than ten minutes to accomplish and there were only fivepeople who had all the necessary keys to walk in and out with the money. Noinvestigation occurred and no further mention was made of it. The onlypersons who should have the key and safe combination are the ASB (AssociatedStudent Body or "government") accountant and the school principal. The cash sits with no oversight and no truly accurate record of it'sexistance. No club fundraising cash deposits go through the ASB cabinetapproval process as do purchase orders or check requests. They are handleddirectly by the ASB accountant under the over site and responsibilityof the principal.
About MVUSD "clubs." In general regarding fundraising; it is andhas always been mandatory for students to pay to participate inextra-curricular activities. Fundraising seldom covers even half thestudent expenses. Recently this practice has been deemed ILLEGAL inlaw suits against surrounding school districts. However at MVUSD, themoney parents pay is shown on School Board Minutes as “Voluntary ParentContributions,” but the child can't participate without paying the fee. Therefore, it appears that participation is neither voluntary nor acontribution. (Handout, gift, or offering.) The courts have recentlyinterpreted "fair and adequate" to mean that all public schoolactivities requiring parents to pay money or monies for participation; Must beoffered free to any and all eligible students. This includes extracurricular sportsand any student clubs. It is a violation of the law to charge parents or forcestudents to fund raise their share. In one discussion, thepractice was deemed "double dipping," because parents pay for theirchild's education through taxation. The court's interpretation extended toinclude uniforms and protective gear.
In keeping with previous years, more than one MVUSD principal oflate has been implicated in possible financialwrongdoings regarding student funds. While seldom investigated byMVUSD in any fair and through manner, the problem itself bestdocumented under deposition (Williams v. MVUSD 2006) by former Director ofSecondary Education, Kim Kruger. Who further admitted under oath that theproblem was commonplace and that he himself had problems regarding studentfunds as principal at Valley View High School.
More recently, regarding a here to unnamed middle school and their ASB studentfund for the 2009-2010 school year; it opened school with a ledger balancerollover from the previous year, somewhere in the vicinity of$115,000. Which is extremely high and a strange discrepancy in therollover for any student fund account. This is the ASB general fund to whichall other clubs, excluding parent run booster clubs, deposit their fundraisingcash, draw their money, pay their bills and obtain their club status.At the end of these first two months, this middle school's account ledgerreportly dropped to just over $4,000. The ASB ledgerentries for this school, during this time period, are said to not makesense nor add up to any where near $100,000. This example was but one schooland one school year in Moreno Valley Unified School District.
Next report; ASB and Booster Clubs.The difference between the two and why both are ripe for cashskimming.
About MVUSD "clubs." In general regarding fundraising; it is andhas always been mandatory for students to pay to participate inextra-curricular activities. Fundraising seldom covers even half thestudent expenses. Recently this practice has been deemed ILLEGAL inlaw suits against surrounding school districts. However at MVUSD, themoney parents pay is shown on School Board Minutes as “Voluntary ParentContributions,” but the child can't participate without paying the fee. Therefore, it appears that participation is neither voluntary nor acontribution. (Handout, gift, or offering.) The courts have recentlyinterpreted "fair and adequate" to mean that all public schoolactivities requiring parents to pay money or monies for participation; Must beoffered free to any and all eligible students. This includes extracurricular sportsand any student clubs. It is a violation of the law to charge parents or forcestudents to fund raise their share. In one discussion, thepractice was deemed "double dipping," because parents pay for theirchild's education through taxation. The court's interpretation extended toinclude uniforms and protective gear.
In keeping with previous years, more than one MVUSD principal oflate has been implicated in possible financialwrongdoings regarding student funds. While seldom investigated byMVUSD in any fair and through manner, the problem itself bestdocumented under deposition (Williams v. MVUSD 2006) by former Director ofSecondary Education, Kim Kruger. Who further admitted under oath that theproblem was commonplace and that he himself had problems regarding studentfunds as principal at Valley View High School.
More recently, regarding a here to unnamed middle school and their ASB studentfund for the 2009-2010 school year; it opened school with a ledger balancerollover from the previous year, somewhere in the vicinity of$115,000. Which is extremely high and a strange discrepancy in therollover for any student fund account. This is the ASB general fund to whichall other clubs, excluding parent run booster clubs, deposit their fundraisingcash, draw their money, pay their bills and obtain their club status.At the end of these first two months, this middle school's account ledgerreportly dropped to just over $4,000. The ASB ledgerentries for this school, during this time period, are said to not makesense nor add up to any where near $100,000. This example was but one schooland one school year in Moreno Valley Unified School District.
Next report; ASB and Booster Clubs.The difference between the two and why both are ripe for cashskimming.
Praetorian: spent 4 years as an ASB co-director for MVUSD
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