Okla. District’s Shortfall Results in 11 Indicments
Six members of the Bartlesville, Okla., school board and five current and former district employees face misdemeanor criminal charges for their involvement in a budget shortfall there.
A grand jury handed up the indictments this month after an investigation into a series of budgeting mistakes that left the 6,300-student district $1.2 million in the red for the 1994-95 school year. (See Education Week, Aug. 2, 1995.)
The indictments charged school officials with willful neglect of duty and failure to produce and account for public funds.
Twelfth Straight No
Voters in Benson, Vt., have voted down the local school budget for the 12th straight time since 1993.
The Nov. 14 vote marked the town’s third attempt to pass a budget for the current school year. The $837,000 measure lost with 159 residents voting against the budget and 126 voting for it. A September vote failed by 12 votes.
Last year, residents turned back the budget nine times. Last year’s tab for the 140-student K-8 school was eventually transferred to the town and collected through property taxes. (See Education Week, June 14, 1995.)
