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So I see that some Lexington High School parents are now voicing their irritation at being coerced to participate in fundraiser after fundraiser after fundraiser by faculty and staff at the school, all while the school makes some highly questionable spending decisions. Take it from someone who knows more about the inner workings of public school finances than most folks will ever understand, this is common practice throughout Lauderdale County and has been for many years.
What does this say about the financial condition of our schools, you ask? Well, making purchases of such dubious need as a trailered commercial smoker does indeed make the school's administration appear irresponsible, impulsive, and indulgent, but there is a much deeper reason for schools to foist endless fundraising efforts onto their students and parents than the general public seems to understand.
Throughout Lauderdale County, high school athletic programs have been operating in the red (at a recurring annual loss) for many years. How do they continue to operate year after year at a loss you might ask? Simple. Colluding with their athletic staff, school administrators routinely "borrow" what they consider to be "excess funds" from other school activities, funds which were never intended to subsidize an insolvent athletic program. This "borrowing" even extends to State funds raised through taxation and appropriated for other specific purposes. This is a flagrant violation of Alabama State Law.
Why hasn't the public been made aware of this, you might ask? The public HAS been made aware of this! The State of Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts has repeatedly cited the Lauderdale County Board of Education in its last three consecutive annual audit reports for violating Section 94 of the Constitution of Alabama which prohibits schools from operating any of their activities in deficit. The Examiners' reports are public record and can be downloaded from their website at examiners.alabama.gov. The Public might also recall a front page article about this in the TimesDaily on November 19, 2017.
The Superintendent, Jon Hatton, and Board Member Ronnie Owens have now announced their re-election bids. Does their apparent cavalier attitude toward the school system's continued violation of State Law suggest anything about what kind of people they are? Perhaps not. But one thing is certain - while they cannot seem to find the funds needed to make the system's athletic programs solvent, they sure can find $610,000 to purchase unneeded land next to the Board Office, and they sure can see their way clear to allow Tim Melson to siphon $250,000+ from school funds annually to fund his Ag Center boondoggle. Yet they have the unmitigated gall to come begging for your votes in the upcoming primary elections, touting their enlightened leadership and their superior financial management skills, as if they have the first clue about how to run a hot dog stand, much less a school system.
Humbly submitted for your consideration by,
The Superintendent, Jon Hatton, and Board Member Ronnie Owens have now announced their re-election bids. Does their apparent cavalier attitude toward the school system's continued violation of State Law suggest anything about what kind of people they are? Perhaps not. But one thing is certain - while they cannot seem to find the funds needed to make the system's athletic programs solvent, they sure can find $610,000 to purchase unneeded land next to the Board Office, and they sure can see their way clear to allow Tim Melson to siphon $250,000+ from school funds annually to fund his Ag Center boondoggle. Yet they have the unmitigated gall to come begging for your votes in the upcoming primary elections, touting their enlightened leadership and their superior financial management skills, as if they have the first clue about how to run a hot dog stand, much less a school system.
Humbly submitted for your consideration by,
After everything thing that has came out in the past few months, how can Mr. Owens, Mr. Holden, Mr. Hatton, or Mr. Herston have the gall to ask voters to show faith in Any of them? We have child molesters walking around school functions with their names on their shirts. We have teachers getting fired for sexual offenses happening in their own classrooms. We have Coaches who begin dating players at 14 and groom them in to their wives (until they hit their 30’s, then it’s bye girl...) I’m glad my girls have graduated and my little ones a boy. Hopefully, he still thinks females have cooties.
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