Earlier this week, it was noted in a Turner Report post that Joplin R-8 CFO Paul Barr will have his $155 Kiwanis dues paid by the taxpayers, if it is approved as expected by the Board of Education when it meets 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Memorial Education Building.
At its April meeting, board documents indicate one of the expenditures approved was paying $385 for membership dues in the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce for Shannon Ingle, an administrative assistant who helps with the district's communications and community development departments.
Among the other expenditures approved in April:
-$822.50 for the Guin Mundorf law firm. Name partner Shellie Guin is currently embroiled in a controversy in the Lee's Summit school district where she is dating the superintendent, something that was announced after she played a key role in making him the highest paid superintendent in the state at nearly $400,000 a year.
-$104,504.26 to the PI Group. Now isn't that the firm the district is suing because it supposedly did such a poor job at the high school? Of course, it is also the same firm that says the district owes it more than $6 million for overtime and other expenses related to former Superintendent C. J. Huff's unsuccessful attempt to get Joplin High School opened on time in August 2014.
-$64,851.41 to Polsinelli PC, the law firm that is representing the district in the P1 Group case
-$912 to Twin Hills Country Club for "golf balls with logo."
-$189.36 to Communications Director Kelli Price to "reimburse expenses" for attending the Missouri School Public Relations Association Conference. What in the world is the school district doing wasting money on public relations. This kind of investment did not exactly pay off for the Huff Administration.
-$18 for a meal for Whitney Warren at the same MOSPRA Convention. Same objection as above.
-$1,100 to Party Station for "inflatables" for a "Fusion event." I have been covering school boards since 1977 and this is the most I can ever recall any school district paying for inflatables.
-
What are inflatables?
ReplyDelete\
Expensive balloons?
Per diem rates for meals while traveling on business typically allow up to $50 or so. $18 is certainly not unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the amount. Spending $1 of taxpayer money for these people to attend a meeting of a public relations association is too much. We have wasted too much time and money on spin.
ReplyDeleteFire Price and Warren.
ReplyDeleteAdd Smith and Dozier.
Johnson and Barlass.
We need three administrators and quality secretaries in central office...that's it.
The money spent on Fusion activities and supplies is not from taxes it is from dedicated sponsors and fundraising. The donors know exactly how their contributions are going to be spent as they are presented with a breakdown of expenses prior to providing funds. My kid has secured funding for these activities and I assure you that the school does not finance them, they direct the funds secured by the students.
ReplyDelete