Jim Thorpe School board members say that when they receive a report on possible credit card misuse by administrators, they’ll release it to the public.

However, the board can’t release the forensic audit report without written permission from the accounting firm which completed it.

On Wednesday, board members faced questions from candidates and Katya Fitzpatrick of BRCTV-13 about why administrators used a district credit card to buy first-class plane tickets and dozens of meals between 2014 and 2018.

The meals and plane tickets showed up on statements for the credit card, which were obtained by residents through right to know requests.

The district has paid back the expenses on the card since 2009, but they said they never authorized business manager Lauren Kovac to open the account, or put her own name on it.

One board member voluntarily admitted that he accepted the first-class plane ticket, as well as lunches paid for by the district during meetings he attended with the superintendent.

The board member, Dr. Michael Principe, said he accepted the lunches because he was giving up his time in order to do board business, and board members are not paid.

“I didn’t ask for it, but I did take it. And I didn’t feel guilty about it, because I’m doing board work for a period of time,” Principe said.

First class

Principe also admitted to flying first class on the district’s dime, when he attended the National School Board Association Conference in Denver.

He said that he was told that the first-class tickets were cheaper than a coach ticket which another school district official purchased.

“I was told by unnamed sources that the tickets they had purchased were actually on sale and less expensive than the coach that another member of the school district flew on,” he said.

Superintendent Brian Gasper and board member Dennis J. McGinley also flew first class. The cost of the tickets was $556.40 and on the same day the tickets were purchased, the airline charged an extra $199 for each passenger.

Board member Wilmer Redline said that he was shocked by the revelation that board members flew first class to the conference on the district’s dime, and that it was a waste of taxpayer money.

“I know if I flew first class and I didn’t know when I registered that I was flying first class, I would have told the board, ‘Why were we doing this?’ ” he said.

During the discussion of the meals and plane tickets, board president Pearl Downs-Sheckler said that the audit will be made public. She said the taxpayers deserve to see the contents.

“It will be made public. Taxpayers are paying for it. The public needs to know what’s in it, and the recommendations,” Downs-Sheckler said.

The board commissioned the audit in October, voting to spend up to $15,000 to look into possible misuse of district credit cards by Gasper and Kovac.

Gasper is leaving the district at the end of June. He wasn’t at the meeting.

The board has hired former Old Forge School District Superintendent John Rushefski as its new superintendent. His 3-year contract begins July 1, with an annual salary of $132,000.

A month after approving the audit, they hired Brown Schultz Sheridan and Fritz of Camp Hill to look into credit card statements, school district statements and other source documents related to credit cards used by Gasper and Kovac. The firm is receiving $100-$325 per hour for its work.

The contract for the audit specifically states that the district can’t release the audit to the public without written permission from BSSF.

It’s unclear whether they will grant permission.

Board solicitor Carl Beard said he did not know when the audit will be completed. He said the firm recently asked for more information to complete their report.

“I think that’s one reason why the board has a reservation to say anything. The audit isn’t back yet. So we’d be speaking out of turn,” said board member Glenn Confer.

Rushefski’s former school district will be audited by the state auditor general’s office. The auditor general stated that the audit is due to board dysfunction and mentioned no administrators when he announced it.

The board also voted Wednesday night to pay Rushefski $500 per day through June 30 to act as an educational consultant for the district until his contract takes effect. Downs-Sheckler said it will allow Rushefski to begin considering candidates for several open faculty positions in the district.