Recruitment & Retention

State Probes La. District On Overtime

By Lisa Fine — June 12, 2002 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A report by the Louisiana state auditor has raised questions about how a New Orleans school janitor could possibly have earned $85,144 in overtime in 2½ years. The janitor, Alphonse Davis, is the father of the superintendent of the New Orleans public school system.

State legislative Auditor Daniel G. Kyle stopped short of concluding in his May 23 report whether or by how much Mr. Davis was overpaid. He said it was impossible to tell because of missing time sheets. The report criticized the Orleans Parish school board for poor oversight, faulty overtime policies, and incomplete record- keeping.

The janitor said he began working the overtime in April of 1999, when a major renovation project began at George Washington Carver Senior High School, where he is head custodian. His son, Alphonse G. Davis, became superintendent of the 75,200-student district in July of that year, according to the audit.

From July 1999 to December 2001, Mr. Davis logged 4,132 hours of overtime work. He recorded 70 hours of overtime from April through June, at about six hours per week, the audit said. After his son became superintendent, the janitor reported an average of 32 hours of overtime per week, the audit said.

The auditor called the claims for overtime pay “questionable given the amount of hours paid per day, the length of time worked without time off, and his admission that he submitted inaccurate time sheets to the [school board].”

Discrepancies Conceded

Based on his account, the janitor would have had to have worked up to 22½ hours a day with long periods of time between days off, the audit noted. For one stretch of time, he reported working 140 days with just one day off.

At first, Mr. Davis said that he worked all of the hours recorded on his time sheets, the audit said. He blamed the renovation for his increased overtime. But later, he told the auditor that his time sheets did not always reflect the actual amounts of hours that he worked, the audit said.

In a response to the audit included in the report, Superintendent Davis wrote that he agreed with its recommendations to change the school system’s overtime policies. All overtime must now be approved in advance, except in emergency cases, the response said. And employees’ immediate supervisors should approve payroll sheets, it added.

Neither Superintendent Davis nor his father could be reached for comment.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 12, 2002 edition of Education Week as State Probes La. District On Overtime

Events

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Recruitment & Retention Opinion 3 Solutions for the Black Male Teacher Shortage
I was well out of college before my mentor persuaded me to become a teacher. Here’s how we can start reaching Black men earlier.
5 min read
Collaged photo illustration of Black men teachers and positive role models
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Recruitment & Retention How This District Boosted Its Ranks of School Librarians—From Within
A South Carolina district partnered with a local university to grow its own teacher-librarians and fill vacancies.
5 min read
Shelley Ward
Shelley Ward, a teacher-librarian at the Charleston County’s Belle Hall Elementary School, assists a student. While teaching, she earned her master’s level school librarian certification through the district’s "grow-your-own" partnership with the University of South Carolina.
Photo courtesy of the Charleston County School District
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says The New School Staffing Landscape, in Charts
Administrators say they're having an easier time filling some vacancies this year, but challenges remain.
2 min read
Illustration of man and african american woman using binoculars and sitting on a search bar from internet.
iStock/Getty
Recruitment & Retention Looking to Recruit and Retain Younger Employees? Speak Their Language
Workplace experts provide ways for education administrators to bridge generational communication divides.
3 min read
Older woman and younger woman looking at tablet computer.
E+ / Getty