Posted on 06/25/2004 3:17:40 AM PDT by Liz
Battered by an embezzlement scandal, the Roslyn School Board last night accepted the resignation of its second member in less than a month and resisted calls from angry residents for more board members to step down.
The packed house of about 600 in the high school auditorium applauded loudly as board president William Costigan read member Ellen Seigel's resignation letter. "In light of the community's loss of confidence, after 11 years of dedicated service to the children of the Roslyn public schools, I submit my resignation as a Board of Education trustee," Seigel wrote.
She did not attend last night's meeting and could not be reached for comment. Seigel has recently come under fire for charging expenses to the district and taking other perks, such as computers for her home and cell phones, totaling $16,152 over her 11 years on the board.
Board member Pat Schissel received similar perks, district records show. Last month, board vice president Michael Barkan, 59, resigned without explanation. Barkan, a certified public accountant, was one year into his seventh three-year term. He could not be reached last night.
After Costigan read Seigel's letter, the audience turned its ire toward Schissel and the other five remaining members.
"How about the rest of the board?" one woman called out. Liz Rubinstein, a parent of three, challenged Schissel for having a district cell phone. "Did you pay us back? Do you think you should? Do you think you're serving us well by stealing from us?" she said. Schissel did not directly answer the question, but said, "I've served this community very well for 19 years." David Karson, a parent of two from East Hills, asked Costigan if he would consider resigning if most of the community wanted him to. "If you're really for the good of the kids, why would you stagnate the community?" Karson said.
--SNIP--
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Oh, but she did it "for the children." She's just a (sob) "victim."
Nice little scam they had going there. I wonder how many more school boards think they can get away with the same thing. Should the taxpayers demand outside auditors every year or so to check the books? Would that be feasible?
That was my exact reaction.... "For the Children"!
Maybe what we are really being told is that some never have to grow up and are THE CHILDREN!
"I submit my resignation as a Board of Education trustee," Seigel wrote.
How about also returning the $16K you POS?
Taxpayers, the board should demand one? An independent, annual audit should be part of every school district. Any boad that doesn't is derelict.
These me-firsters, with their fingers in the public till, demonstrate stunted growth, no doubt about it. Their greed and willingness to profit off kids is troubling.
for being a school board member if they actually worked.
I just can't imagine one doing that.
"Should the taxpayers demand outside auditors every year or so to check the books? Would that be feasible?"
A good idea, all local gov'ts should probably have to have these. And, a good idea I heard once, we should do it like the Euros do, an accounting firm can only be your auditor for three years (or something like that) and then you've got to get a different one. Nobody loses business, because everyone has to switch around, but it prevents too much chumminess between auditor and auditee.
In suburban places like Rolsyn most of the local taxes go to the schools and these people just STOLE THE MONEY. They almost got away with it too. Now they should rot in jail for their greed.
And taxpayers who don't demand audits are idiots. For once I can see the need for some state legislation. For instance, no state aid without periodic outside audits.
Think: Enron and Arthur Andersen.
They know how to steal more expertly than board members. The school employee who stole aome $8M was in charge of the school's finances.
Return the $$$? The overarching view here is the indivduals perverted "sense of entitlement" to steal, to profit, to ripoff taxpayers.
That's why the audits have to be done independently. And while they're at it, maybe the state could look into abuse and fraud regarding tax-exempt purchases by schools, boards, and teachers. Bet that's costing the state some big bucks.
I can dream, can't I?
I have a dream that someday, liberals will be even half as inclusive, tolerant, and happy as they claim to be today. Not the vicious, lying, hating, stealing, criminal pigs they are now.
Bet they were first in line with their hands out demanding more funds for "education."
The "cult" of Clintonism.
Never happen. Libs "tolerance and (gag) compassion" is a huge scam perpetrated on an unsuspecting public to establish libs bona fides.
Once established, libs feel free to lie and cheat and steal without fear of punishment b/c they are so "tolerant and compassionate."
The Clinton Legacy, in all of its perverse nakedness, lives on.
Let's see, eleven years ago, hmmmmm, she started her life of crime immediately after the toon became president.
Some times all too true. My dear, honest father, a retired corporate executive used to joke to me that for some accountants "CPA" stood for "cut, paste and alter" But he also thought most fraud could be factored out with proper controls, and scrupulous hiring and screening. Such controls are not seen at the local level most of the time , as it is deemed too expensive. More expensive than 8 Mil. in missing funds? probably not.
CC
Nice take. The Clinton Legacy continues.
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