Floyd Co. Schools accepts senior staff resignations as police investigate funding
From Staff Reports
The Floyd County Board of Education voted unanimously on April 9 to accept the resignations and retirement of five employees at an emergency called meeting — just hours after school officials released a statement about unidentified employees being involved in “questionable purchasing practices” resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars.
Superintendent Jeff Mc Daniel, however, refused to say if the departures were connected with the criminal investigation into the suspected misuse of funds, saying he wouldn’t discuss personnel issues.
The board met for more than an hour in a closeddoor session before approving McDaniel’s recommendation to accept the resignations of William Greg McCary, lead maintenance specialist; Derry Richardson, director of maintenance; Terri Snelling, director of school improvement; and Robert Chad Watson, operations coordinator; and the retirement of Samuel Sprewell, chief of operations.
“We just don’t discuss personnel issues,” McDaniel said when asked if the departures and investigation were connected. “We’re not going to discuss personnel issues.”
Officials discovered the suspected misuse of county school money several days ago as they tested new software used for human resources and purchasing, said Tim Hensley, assistant to the superintendent. Employees wanted to examine how the software would handle purchase orders, leading them to pull old orders, McDaniel added.
Certain items purchased on those orders led employees to further investigate. Floyd County police were called either on April 2, April 3 or Monday, McDaniel added.
The superintendent declined to say what items caused suspicion. No time frame for the suspected misuse of funds is known. Officials also don’t know how much money might have been taken, though Hensley said it easily could be in the thousands of dollars.
County police and Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson became involved in the investigation after school officials contacted authorities.
Patterson declined to comment.
“The Floyd County Police Criminal Investigation Division has initiated a criminal investigation into complaints made by the Floyd County Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Jeff McDaniel that questionable purchases may have been made by Board of Education employees,” Maj. Mark Wallace states in a release.
“Due to the complexity involved and the need to maintain the integrity of the investigation no other information will be released at this time.”
School officials will meet for the first time today with Periscope Holdings, a company that will examine the school system’s policies and procedures.
“They’ll be more changes than just bringing people in and changing how paperwork is done,” Hensley said. “Our policies and procedures were not strong enough at this time.”