Wow! I just found out from Fox C-6's new CFO, John Brazeal, that former superintendent Dianne Critchlow had been using other card holder's credit cards as well to make purchases besides using her own district supplied VISA card.
Mr. Brazeal informed me via email that, "Please be aware that Discover cards were held by Debbie Davis and Jerry K; however, with some frequency their credit cards were used by D Critchlow."
It's simply amazing to discover all of what's been going on behind the scenes in the Fox C-6 Central Office.
Earlier this evening, I emailed several school board members and Mr. Brazeal to see if any of them knew who Jerome K was who had made $26,405.45 in purchases last year on the district's DISCOVER CARD.
Mr. Brazeal informed me that Jerome is a custodian/courier in the Central Office.
Most of those purchases made using Jerome's credit card were made at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, Office Depot and OfficeMax. But, there were purchases at Pomodoro's, McDonald's, Panera Bread Company, Dairy Queen, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken and many more.
I've also been curious as to why there was a credit card transaction on Debby Davis's DISCOVER CARD for an ELLISVILLE PHOTOTICKET for $104.
It's pretty easy to hide how much was really being spent by former superintendent Dianne Critchlow by spreading purchases across multiple credit cards that were assigned to other card holders. It's just hard to comprehend!
So, not only did Dianne Critchlow have her own district supplied VISA card that she was using for purchases; she was also frequently using the DISCOVER CARD that was assigned to Debby Davis and Jerome K as well.
Mr. Brazeal informed me that "A comprehensive examination of credit card purchases is in progress."
So, it looks as if Dianne Critchlow's credit card "piggy bank" was larger than we thought. No wonder Mr. Brazeal's comments were so strong at the last Fox C-6 school board meeting when the BOE requested a State Audit of the Fox C-6 School District.
Starting with the April DISCOVER CARD statement, you can see that someone started writing check marks on each of the transactions. So, someone was checking the statements after my inquiry.
The last Fox C-6 board meeting that Mark McCutchen attended was in March 2014.
(Updated: 08/17/2014 - 6:02pm - Added Debby Davis's DISCOVER CARD charges.)
07/13 - $9,897.78
What's interesting is that Fox's DISCOVER Card Statements were received by FAX only a few hours after I received a response from Fox's Custodian of Records to my April 9 email. On April 9, I asked Fox's BOE to waive the $170 fee for the credit card statements. Perhaps someone on Fox's BOE asked to see the credit card statements after I made the request.
Fox's BOE Was Way Too Trusting
At the February 2014 Fox C-6 BOE meeting I asked the Fox's BOE how they were approving credit card bill payments each month without being provided the credit card statements in the school board packets. There was no response from the board. But no response has been the norm for years. Since Critchlow's departure, Fox's BOE has been responding to questions.
So, I emailed the board in February and March asking them to provide the credit card statements in the board meeting packets so the public could review them as well as the BOE. The credit card statements were never provided.
My Sunshine Request on April 4 must have started the ball rolling towards Fox's BOE making an inquiry about the credit card statements. On April 8, 2014, Debby Davis informed me that it would cost $170 to fulfill my Sunshine Request for the credit card statements. On April 9, 2014, I emailed Fox's BOE asking them to waive the charges for the credit card statements since my Sunshine request was for the Public's Interest.
It's the Superintendent's duty to keep Fox's BOE and the community informed about how their tax dollars are being spent. The credit card statements represented more than $2 Million Dollars spent by the school district between July 30, 2013 and February 2014. The majority of the high dollar payments were made on the district's American Express Card which included high dollar insurance and utility bills.
Read my previous article on Why It Took So Long To Get Fox C-6's Credit Card Statements to read my email exchanges with the school district in trying to get the credit card statements. I think everyone now knows why they were so hard to obtain.
All I can do is shake my head and say, WOW!
The last few months have uncovered a treasure trove of deceit and deception. I don't believe the Fox C-6 community would have believed all of what was going on behind the scenes without the credit card statements.
Tax Dollars Speak Louder Than Words!
DISCOVER CARD Purchases On Jerome's Card
While preparing my email to several of our school board members this evening I compiled the following information on what was purchased using Jerome's DISCOVER CARD and sent it to them:
Most purchases were made at:
- Sam's Club
- Wal-Mart
- Lowe's
- Office Depot
- Office Max
- Home Depot
Numerous purchases were also made at:
- Panera's
- Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken
- Pomodoro's
- Little Ceasar's
- Fran Ann's Engraving
- Save-A-Lot
- Dairy Queen
- McDonald's
- Walgreens
- Schnuck's
- Best Buy
- Jewel Box Florist
- USPS
- Custom Cellular in Arnold
Total Purchases by month on Jerome K's DISCOVER CARD:
- 07/13 - $234.22
- 08/13 - $4,341.99
- 09/13 - $2,132.35
- 10/13 - $3,684.45
- 11/13 - $1,498.02
- 12/13 - $1,259.28
- 01/14 - $645.31
- 02/14 - $2,846.89
- 03/14 - $1,834.77
- 04/14 - $4,505.47
- 05/14 - $2,627.26
- 06/14 - $796.44
TOTAL AMOUNT: $26,406.45
DISCOVER CARD Purchases On Debby Davis's Card
To clarify things, I am posting the vendor names and total charges by month that were made on Debby Davis's DISCOVER CARD from the DISCOVER CARD Statements. Some of the large monthly amounts are due to payments for AT&T Telephone Bills. Telephone bill charges ranged from $1,200 to $21,243. There were also numerous charges for airline tickets, hotels and restaurants.
VENDOR LIST:
- Loews Hotels Hard Rock Orlando, FL
- Sam's Club
- OfficeMax
- Southwest Airlines - Dallas, TX
- Steak-N-Shake
- Panera Bread
- H Toad Restaurant - Lake Ozark, MO
- Ruthie D's - Lake Ozark, MO
- Camden On The Lake, Lake Ozark, MO
- Domenico's at the Lake - Lake Osage Beach, MO
- Culver's of Osage Beach, MO
- Office Depot
- Applebee's Osage Beach, MO
- American Association of School 730-875-0779 VA
- Ellisville Phototicket - Tempe, AZ
- AT&T Business Phone Payment - 888-851-1115 - TX
- Holiday Inn Columbia, MO
- Ferrellgas LP - Overland Park, KS
- Amazon Marketplace
- Amazon.com
- Hobby Lobby - Arnold, MO
- The Dough Depot - Kimmswick, MO
- Southwest Airlines - Dallas, TX
- Professional Media Group - Norwalk, CT
- Fran Ann Engraving - St. Louis, MO
- Crown Trophy, Ballwin, MO
- Qdoba Mexican Grill, Arnold, MO
- Applebee's - Arnold, MO
- Tan-Tara-Resort - Osage Beach, MO
- WSU Marketplace - Wichita, KS
- AT&T Business Phone - 800-426-7066 - TX
- Panera Bread - Arnold, MO
- McDonald's - Kingdom City, MO
- McDonald's - Osage Beach, MO
- Cecil Whitaker's Pizza - Imperial, MO
- Chili's - Osage Beach, MO
- Lodge of the 4 Seasons - Lake Ozark, MO
- Hotels.com - 800-219-4606 - NV
- Weber's Front Row South - Arnold, MO
- Clothing Shop Online - Bolingbrook, IL
- Party City - Fenton, MO
- Leader Publications
- Renaissance - Washington, D.C.
- Viviano's Festa Italian - Fenton, MO
- DA AETN Shop (History Channel Online Store) - San Francisco, CA
- GA School Fundraising - Nashville, TN
- AT&T - Bethlehem, PA ($299.99) (2 charges at this amount.)
- Dollar Tree - Arnold, MO
- O'Charley's - Fenton, MO
- Catering Your Way - St. Louis, MO
- Red Lobster - St. Louis, MO
- Rizzos - St. Louis, MO
- Edible Arrangements - Arnold, MO
- Capital Plaza - Jefferson City, MO
- Barnes&Noble.com - NJ
- TGI Friday's - St. Louis, MO
- Things Remembered - St. Louis, MO
- Omni Nashville - Nashville, TN
- Frankie Gianinos - Imperial, MO
- Gateway Arch Riverfront - St. Louis, MO
- House Of Inks.com - CA
- Character Ed Partnership - Washington, D.C.
- MOASBO - 573-644-7900 - MO
- Charter Communications - MO
- Pomodoro's - Arnold, MO
- The Blue Owl - Kimmswick, MO
- Factory Card Outlet - St. Louis, MO
- The UPS Store - Arnold, MO
- The Olive Garden - Affton, MO
- Dairy Queen - Arnold, MO
- Papa John's - Arnold, MO
Total Purchases by month on Debby Davis's DISCOVER CARD:
07/13 - $9,897.78
08/13 - $2,528.65
09/13 - $24,520.31
10/31 - $13,694.91
11/31 - $28,467.21
12/31 - $25,606.18
01/14 - $25,427.15
02/14 - $17,654.30
03/14 - $3,152.84
04/14 - $2,853.99
05/14 - $2,725.77
06/14 - $0.00
TOTAL: $156,529.09