This article was published in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
District's credit card records probed
Investigators are looking into allegations
that someone used a Fort Cherry School District credit card for thousands of dollars
in personal expenses, including tickets to a Florida amusement park.
The Pennsylvania Auditor General's Office
received documents related to the charges on the American Express card as part
of an audit, and the Washington County District Attorney's Office recently
sought financial documents regarding the transactions, current and former
school board members told the Tribune-Review.
“I'm not saying anyone has stolen any money,”
said former board member Victoria “Vicky” Lauff, 54, of Robinson, Washington
County. “They are saying no public money was used, but I haven't seen any
proof.”
School board member Leann Darnley raised the
issue publicly in December. She wants an explanation, as do residents who run
the “Fort Cherry Info” blog, which tracks expenditures and other happenings in
the McDonald district.
“The fact is we weren't provided any
documentation to show how it was repaid one way or another,” Darnley said of
questionable charges in 2012.
Both women filed right-to-know requests with
the district to get documents related to the credit card use. Both said they
want an independent investigation and forensic audit of district accounts.
Superintendent Robert Dinnen said he isn't
worried about what an audit would reveal.
“I feel more than confident,” Dinnen said.
“Agencies from the outside have looked into it.”
Other than the school district's longtime
auditor, Cypher & Cypher, Dinnen declined to identify which outside
agencies participated in an investigation he conducted “about this time” last
year.
“That investigation was concluded as far as
the district is concerned,” he said. “There were no district funds spent
inappropriately.”
Dinnen wouldn't identify the subject of his
investigation, citing personnel privacy protections, but said records prove no public
money was spent on personal expenses. He said he could not provide records
because he was attending a conference in Harrisburg.
Dinnen told the board Sept. 16 that a district
attorney's detective recently requested documents related to American Express
accounts, Darnley said.
District Attorney Gene Vittone could not be
reached.
An email the Tribune-Review obtained shows in
June copies of the American Express documents went to Elizabeth Wagenseller,
deputy auditor general for external affairs. The auditor's office acknowledged
it is conducting a normal review of Fort Cherry accounts.
“Could credit cards be part of that? Yes,”
said agency spokeswoman Susan Woods.
School board President James “Jamie” White
said the charges in Orlando were not related to district business. He said the
board has not reviewed all documents related to the credit card investigation,
but White said he is confident of Cypher's findings.
“We asked the auditors to verify no school
funds were spent, and those were their findings,” White said.
Dinnen said the district canceled its American
Express card and “has no credit cards outstanding.”
The Trib obtained documents for a Fort Cherry
account with American Express showing two cards in the name of Paul R. Sroka,
Fort Cherry's business manager.
“My name is on the card,” said Sroka, 48, of
South Fayette. “But that doesn't mean the charges were made by me.”
Sroka said his name appeared on many district
credit cards and charge accounts because of his position. He refused to say if
he made the charges and accused his critics of waging a “public relations witch
hunt.”
“Those people have been harassing me for years,”
Sroka said. “I will not have my professional reputation dragged through the
mud.”
District records for an American Express card
from July 2011 through December 2012 compiled by the Fort Cherry School
District and dated March 18, 2013, showed $5,633.91 in charges for general
supplies, a telescope case for the science club, and a hotel room and rental
car for the 2012 state wrestling tournament.
Separate statements show 38 charges on an
American Express card in Sroka's name from July 29 through Sept. 28, 2012,
totaling more than $1,900. The balance was paid.
Those statements include:
• Eight charges totaling $330.74 at a Get-Go
station on Washington Pike in Bridgeville
• Eleven charges at the Giant Eagle Market
District grocery store in Settlers Ridge totaling $417.75.
• Charges at a pizzeria and Wal-Mart in
Athens, Ohio, on Sept. 6, 2012, the day Ohio University records show Sroka
officiated a football game between the Bobcats and New Mexico State.
• Charges for a trip to Orlando, Fla., from
July 26 through Aug. 3, 2012, that included a Payless Car Rental and $277.98
for admission to Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.
Jason Cato is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7936 or jcato@tribweb.com.
