ELSIE — Ovid-Elsie Area Educational institutions Superintendent Ryan Cunningham will not face disciplinary or lawful motion just after an investigation discovered he did not deliberately violate district plan or the legislation in employing school district gas in his personal autos over the system of his 10-12 months tenure.
The Ovid-Elsie Spot Colleges Board of Schooling voted Wednesday to release the findings of the investigation into Cunningham’s use of school district fuel, which he has admitted to, in his personal automobiles for many years.
Investigators from Bingham Farms-based Recon Administration Team LLC observed the follow had been ongoing for a long time, starting prior to Cunningham grew to become superintendent in 2010. Though the follow did not violate any school policies, it could have violated either condition or federal tax rules.
Cunningham will encounter no disciplinary motion. Board of Schooling associates reported they are all set to transfer on from the gas probe.
“As you will see if you critique the report, the impartial 3rd-get together investigator observed that no individual in the district, which include Dr. Cunningham, knowingly violated any legislation or policy or meant to violate any regulation or policy,” Ovid-Elsie Region Colleges Board of Schooling President Eric Jones reported. “Now that the district has found out that this longstanding practice is not permitted, Dr. Cunningham has labored with the condition of Michigan’s Treasury Office to fork out all demanded fees, which include monthly penalty and desire costs on taxes owed. The board considers this issue resolved and appears to be like ahead to returning the concentrate to pupils.”
Cunningham in an e-mail wrote that he self-documented his use of the non-taxed fuel to the Treasury Department and was educated he required to spend again the taxes as very well as penalties and desire. He did not release what total he paid.
Treasury spokesperson Ron Leix said point out law prohibits the section from furnishing unique data connected to the administration of a tax.
Reimbursing the university district for the gasoline employed “has not been a topic of discussion that I am knowledgeable of,” Cunningham said in an e mail.
“I am thankful that the report exonerates me and dismisses the declare of any known incorrect-carrying out,” he wrote. “I was cooperative and took accountability for my actions the moment we all comprehended that this past observe was not permissible. I feel that I have atoned for my miscalculation the finest that I can.”
A community member submitted a grievance in June alleging Cunningham for a number of a long time experienced been making use of faculty district fuel in his personal car or truck. The grievance prompted the Board of Education to seek the services of Recon Administration to examine no matter if Cunningham inappropriately filled his car with university district gasoline.
In accordance to Cunningham, he considered he was adhering to a university district plan concerning gas use that allowed the superintendent to use up to 1 tank of faculty fuel when on university business enterprise for each week.
Cunningham claimed it was a university district apply that was passed down to him verbally and had been in spot for nearly 20 several years.
He succeeded former Superintendent Wayne Petroelje 12 yrs in the past.
The success of the investigation, which have been obtained by the Lansing Condition Journal through a Flexibility of Facts Act request, observed that Petroelje, who was superintendent from 1992 as a result of 2010, instructed investigators he was offered a district-owned motor vehicle when he began and was authorized to use school district fuel. The superintendent prior to Petroelje followed the exact observe, he said, according to the report.
Sooner or later, mainly because of the poor problem of the car, the university district procured a new automobile for Petroelje to use, he informed investigators.
About 5 decades prior to his 2010 retirement, Petroelje explained to investigators that the district had prepared to acquire a further replacement car, but Petroelje told the district he would somewhat travel his own car. An settlement was reached that he would obtain a $200 every month stipend for journey. He was permitted to fill his own automobile at the faculty pumps after weekly and acquire one particular automobile clean.
“There wasn’t any believed about putting the gas in a non-district car or truck getting a issue,” in accordance to the report.
There was no formal method when Petroelje was approved to push his private automobile and fill it with faculty gas, “but somewhat a verbal arrangement,” with a vehicle allowance added to his following deal.
Petroelje served Cunningham as he transitioned into the new part, telling him that he could get one particular gasoline fill-up and a person auto clean for every week, giving him the distant to access the transportation division and exhibiting him how to switch the pumps on, in accordance to the report.
Shifting forward, college district officials are performing to clarify insurance policies on travel stipends, including doing the job with attorneys to guarantee language in employment contracts plainly explains what is and is not included in journey stipends, Jones claimed. They also want to make very clear that school district gas is only to be made use of in university district-owned vehicles.
“We did our owing diligence,” Jones explained on Thursday. “As a board, we reacted rapidly when this came to light.”
Get in touch with Mark Johnson at (517) 377-1026 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.
