By:Hector Flores
News of his resignations was made public during an Aug. 12 North Bellmore school board meeting. North Bellmore Board Vice President Nina Lanci, who will become board president, read a statement on Reinhardt's behalf. It said he was leaving the Central and North Bellmore boards for personal reasons.
Reinhardt's resignations come at a time when school districts are looking more closely at their spending practices in the wake of the Roslyn School District scandal.
According to a statement released by the Central School District, an internal district audit turned up spending discrepancies in Reinhardt's travel expenses. The audit showed that Reinhardt had not provided a list of expenses for annual conferences of the American Association of School Administrators dating back eight years. He did, however, supply an expense report in 1999-2000.
The Central High District statement read in part, "When Mr. Reinhardt was questioned about his failure to return excess funds and to provide appropriate documentation for moneys, which he actually expended, he promptly reimbursed the district." In all, Reinhardt spent $6,919.60.
The statement also said that as soon as the district learned what had happened, it notified the "appropriate authorities," including the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. At press time, the office had not yet received notification from the district.
The Central District's audit showed that its safeguards had failed to identify trustees who did not promptly justify conference advances. At the next Central District meeting, the Board of Education plans to discuss hiring a forensic accounting firm to analyze district expenses incurred by board members, principals, administrators and employees who take overnight trips.
According to the district's statement, a forensic audit would:
¥Identify other possible instances of improper or unauthorized reimbursement of conference or travel expenses.
¥Test the district's internal controls and make recommendations, where needed, as to how such controls should be strengthened to ensure that public money will be spent appropriately.
John Rossi, a North Merrick Board of Education member, said he sympathized with Reinhardt and his family. But he wondered why the district was so proactive with this case, when last year, he said, it refused to call in an outside investigator to examine the Mepham hazing scandal. "When the Mepham High School football scandal first broke, the Central board refused to have an outside investigator," he said. "But when it comes to money, they did not hesitate."
Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change, which formed after the Mepham scandal, is calling on the state comptroller's office to investigate the Central District's finances, saying that Reinhardt's failure to justify expenses may signal the "proverbial tip of the iceberg."
