Lex-Rich 5 board meeting

Lexington-Richland School District Five board members during a June 27 meeting. T. Michael Boddie/Staff

CHAPIN — The summary of an audit released by Lexington-Richland School District Five board members this week reported instances of mishandled taxpayer money and possible ethics violations over the past eight years, but provided few details.

The district purchased sewer taps unnecessarily, failed to issue tax forms, attempted purchases with unauthorized vendors and spent money on legal fees to combat critics, according to a summary report from New Mexico-based Jaramillo Accounting Group.

"We noted there are possible violations of procurement and ethics without consequences to employees," reads the report for the Irmo and Chapin school district. "In procurement card testing, we noted attempted and declined purchases to inappropriate vendors such as Victoria's Secret and Adidas."

Possible ethics violations were noted in the audit report, including donations to board candidates and board members, various conflicts of interest involving attorneys and awarding contracts.

But no details were included in the audit's summary released June 28. The board did not release the full report. 

District officials sent a letter to the state Department of Education in May promising to alert law enforcement of any malfeasance found in the final audit and to develop a financial recovery plan.

The district approved the audit in September, months after school board members had expressed concerns about procurement violations regarding projects from a 2008 bond referendum. The district is considering a new $150 million bond referendum.

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The audit, which cost $50,000, covered July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021 — a period that included Christina Melton's four-year tenure as superintendent. Melton, the reigning state superintendent of the year, resigned in June 2021 amid spats with board members over several issues, including COVID safety protocols. She received a $226,000 severance.

Lexington-Richland Five's superintendent in 2016-17, Stephen Hefner, was sued by the district in November in a dispute over comments to an accrediting agency. Hefner has countersued, calling the board complaint frivolous.

Efforts to reach board chairwoman Jan Hammond and vice chairman Ken Loveless were not successful on June 28.

The audit also looked at some issues outside the designated dates. The district purchased sewer taps in 2014 despite taps bought a year earlier going unused. The taps expired, costing the district $178,750, according to audit.

"You might as well have walked up to a toilet and flushed $178,000 of the taxpayers' money," board member Catherine Huddle said during a board meeting. "I, for one, want to make sure we know why that happened and what we need to change so it never happens again."

The audit also said the district paid nearly $8 million from 2017 to 2021 for temporary staff, which went over the district's approved contractual rate. No one in the district's central office has taken responsibility for approving temporary staff invoices, the audit said.

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The auditing firm report that the district improperly issued or failed to issue tax forms used for contract workers.

The Lexington-Richland Five audit report noted problems with transparency among district leadership but did not mention anyone by name.

"It is clear from the outside looking in with an independent viewpoint that people who questioned the District's leadership were chastised, minimized, ignored, and/or attacked," the report said. 

The district spent "extraordinary amounts of energy and legal expenses paid to argue with those who asked questions" in what the report called "a pattern of non-transparent behavior."

The audit did not say why district leaders needed legal help or how the money was spent.

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A district spokeswoman did not know when the full report will be released.

"The public's trust is worth $50,000," Loveless said at a board meeting. "I think that we need to make sure our public understands that this board stands for what it says, and that we're not going to sit in here and look the other way while things go on."

K-12 Education Reporter

T. Michael covers education in the Columbia area. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina and communications at the University of Denver, and worked as a reporter covering Denver Public Schools.

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