City falls short on murder-free month
Latinos turn out to community-sponsored town hall
Youth walk away winners from Sports Spectacular
Governor expected to sign CUSD-sponsored legislation on foster youth
Bill ensuring funding for new MLK hospital passes state legislature
Gang members arrested in racketeering case
‘Living Legends’ lauded by supervisor
DEA seeks Ebonics experts to help with cases
New ambulance service covering city’s east side
Fall classes still available at Compton Center
State had weak support for school grant bid
CUSD must submit fiscal plan to county by next week
Joseph
Phillips:
Is America only for white people?
DA’s
office looking into CUSD credit card scandal
District Attorney’s
Office requests copies of statements, district credit card policy
By
Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin
Editor
COMPTON—The
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is looking into
the use of district-issued credit cards at Compton Unified School District,
The Bulletin has learned.
Sources at district headquarters told The Bulletin last week that
the District Attorney’s Office submitted a request for copies of
credit card statements and the district’s credit card policy last
Wednesday.
The request comes months after The Bulletin first reported that Superintendent
Dr. Kaye Burnside, who is currently on paid administrative leave, used
her district-issued credit card to make personal purchases.
The Bulletin last spring made an official records request for copies
of credit card statements dating back to when Burnside first took the district’s
helm in the spring of 2008 after employees contacted the newspaper complaining
that Burnside was misusing the card.
The records revealed that a total of $58,328 had been charged to
Burnside’s district-issued credit card, according to statements from
April 2008 through February of this year. The card was credited $3,968,
leaving the total charges at $54,360. Of that amount, according to the
sum of all Burnside’s reimbursement checks, she repaid $9,893.
Burnside’s credit card was charged more than $12,000 for airline
tickets, including seat upgrades and luggage charges; more than $8,900
for hotels; more than $4,700 for meals and food; more than $4,300 for floral
arrangements; and more than $1,800 for gasoline, according to the statements.
In August 2008, the account’s $10,000 limit was exceeded, yielding
a $39 over-limit fee. The district incurred late fees totaling $205, $49
of which Burnside covered, records show. Finance charges on purchases over
the same time period were close to $950. The district did not provide records
indicating repayment for any of the finance charges.
Many charges were related to district activities and business. But
the district did not report official events that correspond to many of
the other charges. This indicates either a lack of adequate record keeping
by the district or that the undocumented charges were personal in nature.
The Compton Unified school board’s credit card policy expressly forbids
personal use of credit cards, stating, “under no circumstances may
personal expenses be charged.”
Burnside said she repaid the district for all personal purchases
she charged to the card. She said she was not aware of the board policy
when she used the card, adding that previous superintendents had for the
past 26 years used the credit card similarly, charging personal purchases
and reimbursing the district.
The Bulletin was provided with no records indicating that Burnside
reimbursed the district for a number of the undocumented charges.
Burnside claimed that a majority of the charges to the card were
made by other individuals, explaining that the school board’s secretary
also has a card in Burnside’s name that is used for board member
travel, meals, reservations and other district-related operating costs.
If other individuals were using the card, records do not indicate
who these individuals are or if anyone else had repaid any of the charges.
Charges for personal expenses could be considered unauthorized loans
of public money, even if the district was reimbursed. This conduct landed
former Mayor Omar Bradley, former Councilman Amen Rahh and former City
Manger John Johnson II in prison in 2004 tied to their use of city-issued
credit cards. Former school board member Basil Kimbrew was convicted in
2005 of felony misuse of public funds for charging almost $2,000 to his
district-issued credit card for a personal party. Kimbrew pleaded no contest
in a plea deal.
Burnside said she does not see any similarities between her use of
her district-issued credit card and that of these individuals who were
successfully prosecuted for misusing credit cards in their capacities as
city and school district officials.
Burnside was placed on paid administrative leave after a May 25 split
vote in closed session by the school board. That same night, the board
approved hiring an independent investigator at a cost of $450 per hour
to thoroughly probe the use of Burnside’s credit card.
That investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, Associate Superintendent
Karen Frison is serving as acting superintendent.
...
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