Accusations of fund misappropriation were put to rest at Jim Thorpe Area School District’s board of education meeting on Monday night.

Paul Montemuro, who runs Frosty Mountain Beverage in Albrightsville, lobbed a number of complaints against the board in regard to funding issues during last month’s meeting.

One of his primary concerns was that the board was providing funding for non-sponsored sports organizations, specifically the Little Olympians basketball program, which is not permitted by district regulations.

Montemuro filed various right to know requests, which he provided copies of to the board members, highlighting transactions between the basketball booster’s club and the Little Olympians.

Solicitor Gregory Mousseau said the financial transactions were not in violation of any board rules.

“The question that you presented to the board was, were the vouchers properly handled by the school district? Specifically, the question you asked was whether or not the check vouchers paid to the order of Little Olympians Basketball for candle fundraising, jacket embroidery and entrance fees to summer basketball tournaments and jerseys were properly dispersed by the school banker,” Mousseau said to Montemuro.

Mousseau said that the booster club money that went to the Little Olympians was transferred by the school banker, though the banker had no say in the matter. The account that contains the money for the booster club is known as a “purely custodial fund,” meaning that the district and board have no control over the finances. Simply put, if the booster club wished to use its own funds to support the Little Olympians, it is free to do so, as the district itself is not dispersing the money from accounts that are funded by taxpayers.

The board has never been found in violation of any rules regarding purely custodial funds during audits, Mousseau said.

Mousseau also explained that the district is largely involved with the booster club accounts to help ensure Title IX cooperation, so that any and all financial records regarding sports teams are readily available for review to make sure that male and female students are receiving equal opportunities.

Montemuro challenged Mousseau’s explanation, saying that the funds in the booster club accounts could have been from taxpayers.

“Taxpayers pay for the building, taxpayers pay for the stuff in the building, taxpayers pay for the insurance for the kids in varsity and high school sports. The money goes in there, it’s all mixed funds, it’s actually taxpayers’ money. The money comes out of that fund and goes to a non-sponsored fund,” he said.

Board member Dr. Clem McGinley quickly corrected Montemuro by reiterating Mousseau’s points.

“It’s not taxpayers’ money. This is booster club money that is simply being monitored by the school banker. It has nothing to do with taxpayer money. This is money that comes from donations, fundraisers, etc.,” McGinley said.

Montemuro concluded his presentation by bringing up another alleged violation of funding rules, this time referring to the girl’s basketball team’s trip to Orlando in December, where the students each received $50 from the district. Montemuro said that the money constituted a gift, which was in violation of the rules of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, among other associations.

Business manager Lauren Kovac said that the $50 was allocated for food expenditures, a standard procedure for any out-of-state trip for students.

“It came from the district, not from the booster club. It was for food, it’s meal money. Whenever we have kids who go overnight somewhere, we give them meal money. We didn’t even have to give them the full meal money that they would normally get, because the booster club paid for some of their meals as part of the package,” Kovac said. “On the outside of the envelope that the girls got, it was labeled ‘meal money.’”