Madison, OHIO

August 27, 2008 - Madison Schools Superintendent David Williamson pleaded no contest on two misdemeanor charges of attempted sexual imposition. In two separate incidents in March, Williamson was charged with unwanted sexual contact with the 27-year-old female janitor at the school's board office.

Williamson changed his not guilty plea to no contest in exchange of the charges dropping from two counts of sexual imposition to two counts of attempted sexual imposition. After being charged, Williamson was placed on paid administrative leave by the Madison School Board, but was later reinstated and given a one-year contract extension.

RESIGNATION Sept 4 - Williamson resigned. The Madison Schools Board of Education accepted the resignation at a special meeting Wednesday night. The board did not buy out his contract. He will be paid for vacation days he earned. His health insurance will carry on until the end of September, but his salary will stop with his resignation.
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See Madison residents concerned by BOE’s stance on Williamson (Aug 27)

"I would like to state that I was very distressed when you, the board members of the Madison Local Board of Education, voted to reinstate Dr. Williamson to the position of superintendent while he had alleged charges of sexual imposition against a fellow employee pending,” said Donna Hammond, librarian at Mifflin Elementary School and a 15-year Madison employee.

“It showed an extreme lack of judgment which was then exacerbated by a vote to extend his contract. These decisions were an affront to the morale of district employees, a dereliction of your duties to the taxpayers of this community and a disgusting example of morality for our students. And now the truth is out.

“Dr. Williamson may have extraordinary tendencies, but I don’t think they’re of the walk-on-water variety. By your actions, you have made a tawdry and scandalous situation worse and subjected taxpayers, employees and students to public humiliation and derision. I have no faith in your ability to intelligently lead this district in the future and I publicly ask that all five board members tender your resignations as soon as possible and invite employees and taxpayers to request the same.”

Hammond’s statement provoked applause from the audience.

Overton, TEXAS

June 27, 2008 - The former Overton Independent School District superintendent pleaded guilty to theft of property by a public servant.
Mark Stretcher was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication.

Stretcher resigned in January, one day after school board members met to discuss his contract. A district audit last year year revealed possible missing Overton ISD funds. The Texas Education Agency began an investigation. About two weeks ago, TEA forwarded its findings report to the district attorney’s office.

The case was on the docket for the next grand jury when Stretcher pleaded guilty. As part of his sentencing he must make restitution. He also has surrendered his Texas teacher certification.

Sauk Village, ILLINOIS

"Thomas Ryan was a reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor children in his district to line his own pockets, spending money on himself, his family and his friends."

Feb 17, 2008 - An eight-year prison sentence will be cut short for the former Community Consolidated District 168 superintendent convicted in 2005 of stealing money from the Sauk Village school district.

Thomas Ryan, 56, is scheduled to be released April 12.

For 16 years, Ryan held a tight grip on the day-to-day operations of the Sauk Village district by using fear and intimidation tactics - even threatening to break a perceived snitch's legs - to keep critics at bay.

A grand jury indicted Ryan with felony theft in 2005 after seizing $730,000 in bundled cash from his Orland Park home. Charges were also brought against former school board president Louise Morales and building and grounds supervisor Edward Bernacki, neither of whom was sentenced to time behind bars.

Later that year, Ryan pleaded guilty to the theft and repaid the district $400,000 in restitution.
Ryan served the majority of his sentence at East Moline's minimum security facility,
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IN 2005 Cook County State Attorney's Office Press Release (dated Aug 23, 2005)
Ryan was paid $183,000 a year in one of the poorest school districts in the state.

IN 2004 Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich appoints taskforce of school administrators to help shape new Department of Education Press Release (dated Feb 9, 2004) Included in the Education Accountability Taskforce membership was - Dr. Thomas Ryan, Supt. of Community Consolidated School District #168 (Sauk Village)

Greatschools.net rates the district a 2 (10 is best)

Paying School Superintendents

Feb 10, 2008 - The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle examined the contracts of nineteen local school superintendents. They posted the contracts online.

They point out the normal contract provisions you can expect to see in a contract, some of which are surprising.

Poughkeepsie, NEW YORK

INDICTED on six felony counts.

Feb 7, 2008 - Robert Watson, former Poughkeepsie City School District Superintendent, was indicted on two counts of grand larceny, four counts of offering a false instrument for filing and the seventh county alleges a misdemeanor of payment of an unqualified teacher as an unclassified misdemeanor.

Six of the seven counts are felonies.

The Poughkeepsie Journal: The grand jury, which began hearing testimony in 2006, was investigating the school system’s fiscal affairs during Watson’s nearly six years as superintendent.

Watson resigned in late 2005 with a six-figure separation agreement approved by the school board. At the time, Watson said he was leaving to pursue other interests in education.

An audit by the state Comptroller’s Office released last summer was highly critical of Watson and found $1.2 million in questionable spending during his tenure. [District Attorney William] Grady said the grand jury used the state audit during its investigation.

The panel began hearing testimony in 2006. Grady’s office began its initial inquiry into the district in late 2005, soon after Watson’s resignation was accepted by the board.

Watson is expected to turn himself in after which the indictments will be unsealed.

DWI CHARGES June 24 - Watson pleaded guilty to to driving with his ability impaired, a violation, but not drunken driving misdeamor as was originally charged wi following a traffic stop last month in the Town of LaGrange. He allegedly registered a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol reading. He was fined $500, ordered to pay $85 in court costs and attend a victim impact panel.

Watson also faces a DWI charge in upstate Colonie following his arrest there in March, although that might be dismissed, according to Watson's lawyer, after a judge found the police officer who arrested Watson could not recall details of the field sobriety test. Watson refused a breath test following that traffic stop.

No date wa given for an appearance on the felony larceny charges.
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August 15, 2007 - Audit: $1.2M in Questionable Spending at Poughkeepsie Schools
NYSSCPA = New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

TRIAL DELAYED October 31 - The trial has been delayed until Wednesday for unspecified reasons. Watson, 44, is accused of misappropriating more than $1 million in district funds. He is charged with two felony counts of grand larceny, four felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing and one count of payment of an unqualified teacher, a misdemeanor.

Eddy, TEXAS

Apr 16, 2007 - Dan Doyen, a Bruceville-Eddy school district superintendent, pleaded guilty hiding a video camera in a women's bathroom in an administration building.

Doyen quit in November of 2005 -- just days after the camera was found in the bathroom.

He will be sentenced June 13.

June 14 - Doyen was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years' probation. He will be required to register as a sex offender. He'll have to move. He's 150-feet from the school administration building.

Helena-West Helena, ARKANSAS

A lounge singer? Was that before or after her gig as a school Superintendent?

Mar 16 - Shirley "T.J." Graham, Superintendent of the Helena-West Helena School District, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to 20 separate charges that were handed down by a special grand jury.

The charges against Graham include nine Class B felony counts of theft, nine Class B misdemeanor counts of abuse of office, a Class C felony theft charge and a Class C misdemeanor charge of violation of the Arkansas School Bid Law.

Background: The state took over the the school district in 2005 and almost immediately began criminal investigations. Graham was was the eighth person indicted in last year's Phillips County grand jury investigation into public corruption.

From a Feb 10 news story on KAIT:

Graham, an educational consultant and lounge singer, was interim superintendent at Helena-West Helena from June 14, 2005, through September 8, 2005.

She lost her job when the Arkansas Department of Education took control of the district because of money problems. After the indictment, a warrant was issued for her arrest, but Memphis authorities weren't able to find her until January 31.

No date was given for further court appearances.

Mastic Beach, NEW YORK

Feb 6, 2007 - Daniel Cifonelli, 72, assistant Superintendent of the William Floyd School District, was sentenced to to "2 to 6 years on the each of the four counts of second-degree grand larceny he had pleaded guilty to in January, 2006, and 1 to 3 years each on one count of third-degree grand larceny and four counts of money laundering." [Newsday Soprano vocabulary.]

He admitted admitted stealing $687,000 from the "beleaguered **" school district. Prosecutors said Cifonelli simultaneously collected both a retirement pension and a consultant's salary from the district, *** stole about $230,000 by transferring money from school district accounts into his personal bank and brokerage accounts. In his 2006 plea, Cifonelli also admitted he illegally collected an annual pension of $133,000 while getting $150,000 a year as a consultant for the district, beginning in 1998 and continuing until he was dismissed by Floyd in 2004.

He is already serving a 2 1/2-year federal sentence for tax evasion stemming from the theft

** From Suffolk Life at the time of his arrest:

Cifonelli's arrest re-opened wounds of fiscal scandal when former district treasurer James Wright was arrested for allegedly illegally writing checks to himself to the tune of almost $700,000.

*** He was paid over $800,000 under a non-existent contract.

See Boston Globe story.

Someone has been following the school scandal at this site.

UPDATE - June 24, 2008 - Found in a story on Wright pleading guilty in federal court to income tax evasion: Cifonelli paid restitution of $250,000 to the district and $440,0000 to the New York Teacher's Retirement System.

Gainesville, GEORGIA

Jan 11, 2007 - Curtis Bibb, assistant superintendent for Gainesville City Schools, plans to resign this week after his Dec. 23 arrest in Charleston, S.C., on three drug charges, including possession of cocaine with intent to distribute near a school.

Bibb was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana. Other arrest details weren't available. Until recently Bibb also oversaw personnel matters, including teacher recruitment.

This is the second time in a decade Bibb has resigned from a school position after a drug charge. The first time, he was an elementary school principal in Beaufort County, S.C. He told Gainesville school administrators about his previous drug charge before he was hired.

The superintendent learned of the arrest in South Carolina when someone anonymously left a court record – that looked like it came off the internet -- on his desk.

Jan 11 - The school superintendent remembers discussing Bibb's previous drug charge before hiring him, but some board members don't recall or had vague recollections. The preliminary hearing set for Jan 17.

Jan 13 - School board head Lee Highsmith says Bibb was "upfront" about his prior arrest. AccessNorthGa.com asked,

How could the board mesh hiring someone with something like that in his or her past while promoting zero-tolerance for drugs on its campuses?

"It is true that we don't tolerate drugs in our schools, but this was something that was in his past," Highsmith said, "that he had taken steps to correct and had not been involved in since '96."

You be the judge.
Jan 17 - Board president on Bibb's hiring:

As for the possibility that Bibb might revert to old ways, she said, "This is a country where if you are able to turn your life around, you could be elected president."
She cited Bill Clinton's prior history with marijuana and George Bush, alcohol."