School official no wrong doing

The Halifax County School Board vice chair said this week she believes there has been no financial wrong doing by anyone in the school system.

Dr. Donna Hunter was one of the board members who recently called for the North Carolina State Auditor’s office to examine the school system’s finances in light of a recent budgetary crisis that has left the school system scrambling to meet its financial obligations.

The crisis came to light on Sept. 16, when School Superintendent Geraldine Middleton appeared before the Halifax County Board of Commissioners asking for an advance on the board’s monthly appropriation in order to meet payroll.

That night she outlined several things the school system would be doing to cut expenses, including the elimination of 17 non-teaching positions, as well as cutting back hours for other workers, instituting an energy reduction use policy, and transferring some locally funded positions to state funded.

The board granted an advance of $280,000, and asked then County Administrator Matthew Delk to contact the state auditor’s office.

On Friday, Delk’s last day on the job, he declined to comment further.

“I’ve complied with what the board ordered me to do, I have been in contact with the state auditor … (and) the local government commission of the state treasurer’s office,” he said. “Anything dealing with an investigation, a matter not covered by public records, I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment.”

Chris Mears, a spokesman with the auditor’s office, said he could not comment.

“We never even confirm if there is an investigation or not,” he said.

Hunter, though, said she had also contacted the state auditor’s office, but not to initiate an investigation.

“We have heard so many things, I have yet to see anything or any document that shows someone was doing wrong,” she said. “What we want to do is get clarification. We’ve asked for the state auditors to do an audit, to clear the air.

“I honestly do not believe anything has been done wrong, but with taxpayer’s money you want to make sure everything has been done on the up and up. The taxpayers, it’s their money and they deserve answers.”

She said part of the budget shortfall is the fact that the school system hired people in the past with grant money targeted at a specific program. But, when that grant money ran out, the school system tried to keep the people employed, which has resulted in the school system being overburdened.

“Our heart was in the right place. We have such a hard time with employment in Halifax County. But, when there’s no money, there’s no money,” she said.