Jul 29, 2009 12:09 am US/Pacific
SJ Superintendent Under Fire For Spending
Kiet Do, Reporting
SAN JOSE (CBS 5) ―
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East Side Union District Superintendent Bob Nunez.
CBS
While the East Side Union High School District was threatening to cut sports programs for budget reasons, the district's superintendent was submitting expense reports for thousands of dollars. That's the result of an audit revealed at a board meeting Tuesday night.
Bob Nunez, the superintendent of the school district had some explaining to do.
"Reading this report, this review, made me sick to my stomach," said parent Michelle Holscher.
The report is a 31-page document on district spending that zeroed in, among other things, on the superintendent's credit card expenses. Spending ranged from flights and hotels to conferences all over the country, to $868 spent on a board cabinet retreat at the Hayes Mansion, to cups of Starbucks coffee.
In all, the expenses totaled up to about $27,000. And Superintendent Nunez did not have receipts for half of them.
Nunez said all the charges were legit, but did admit he needed to do better.
"I don't believe that we're in violation of the board policy," Nunez said, "but having said that, I understand I really need to make sure that I have all the receipts that everybody wants to have."
Board president Patricia Martinez-Roach said the county's report was embarrassing. "I'm very concerned about that, I'm very concerned," she said.
Martinez-Roach also recalled Nunez's meetings at nice restaurants. When asked if the board encouraged meeting at expensive restaurants over cheaper places, Martinez-Roach responded "No, we don't encourage any board member to go to expensive restaurants."
The report was especially damaging, since earlier this year the district tried to cut sports to save $2 million. Parents such as Diane Walker now must pay $200 a year so her child can play sports.
"We teach our kids consequences, good and bad, and you have to take the consequence with it," Walker said.
After the meeting CBS 5 tried to talk to the superintendent. But he declined, saying he needed to go into a closed door meeting.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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