Former principal pleads guilty

A former D.C. public school system principal pleaded guilty yesterday to taking more than $9,000 from a student fundraising account for personal purchases that included DVDs, lobster, sushi, calling cards and a Palm Pilot. Nae M. Davis, 58, former principal of John Burroughs Elementary School in Northeast, faces six months to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony theft charge, prosecutors said. Miss Davis, who will be sentenced next month in D.C. Superior Court, declined to comment yesterday when reached by phone at her home in the District. She said she was referring inquiries about the matter to an attorney, who did not respond by press time. The plea agreement also calls for Miss Davis, who retired in 2003, to repay the school system $9,834. Prosecutors said Miss Davis controlled and made all spending decisions for money held in a bank account earmarked for proceeds of school fundraising events. Students raised money by selling sodas, cakes and doughnuts. Between 2000 to 2002, Miss Davis spent thousands of dollars from the student activity bank account on personal purchases at local food stores, officials said. Some of the personal purchases included DVDs; a Palm Pilot personal messaging device; travel clocks; dinners of lobster, shrimp, veal, and sushi; calling cards and a cordless telephone, prosecutors said. An internal probe by the D.C. school system uncovered the expenses. School officials turned the matter over to the D.C. Office of the Inspector General.

Probed D.C. Principal Hired in Pr. George's School Was Unaware of Spending Audit

By Nurith C. Aizenman

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, February 5, 2004; Page B05

A District elementary school principal who retired last year, a few months before an audit concluded that she improperly spent $9,800 from a student activity fund -- on lobster tails, roses, a Palm Pilot, DVDs, a spa kit and other items -- is now the principal of an elementary school in Prince George's County.

Nae M. Davis, a 33-year veteran of the D.C. school system, retired as principal of Burroughs Elementary last February, after she was placed on leave pending the audit of her expenditures. Upon the audit's completion in May, system officials referred her case to the U.S. attorney's office, where a spokesman said it remains under review.

The Prince George's school official who oversees hiring said he was not aware of the audit or the investigation when Davis was offered the principal's job at Forest Heights Elementary School in September.

"We conducted appropriate background checks in the state and federal system . . . and we contacted the appropriate references for her," said Howard Burnett, chief administrator for human resources. "There was no information we had that negatively impacted [her] selection."

Whenever his office receives new information, he said, "we have to do a review to see if there's any impact on the employment of that individual, whether any records were falsified by an employee and whether the information provided impacts the credibility of the employee."

Davis, 56, denied any wrongdoing at the time of the audit. In a telephone interview yesterday, she said that her retirement from Burroughs Elementary had nothing to do with the investigation and that she felt no need to inform Prince George's officials when applying for her current job.

"I have had an exemplary career as an educator in D.C. public schools. . . . I retired without a blemish on my record," Davis said.

Asked whether the school audit's findings constituted a blemish, Davis said, "I would think that is up to one's interpretation."

The money in the student activity fund at Burroughs comes from candy sales and other fundraisers and is intended to be used to promote student morale and support extracurricular activities, according to D.C. school policy.

The audit -- which was begun after complaints from parents, according to school system officials -- found that Davis dipped into the fund to purchase a broad range of inappropriate items, including sushi, pork tenderloins, phone cards, travel clocks, diapers and Christmas tree lights.

Auditors, who reviewed the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years, also found that there was inadequate documentation for an additional $17,344 in expenditures from the activity fund and that an additional $1,877 was misspent from Burroughs's budget using a school system credit card. Among the items purchased with the credit card were a Victorian floor lamp, a leather wallet and a cordless phone, according to the audit.

Davis declined to comment yesterday on the specifics of the audit. When the audit was released in May, she told The Washington Post that all the purchases she had made were for legitimate school activities. For instance, she said, the spa kit was intended to teach girls to care for their hands; the food items were served at special lunches and dinners for students and parents; and the DVDs were for students to watch.

John M. Cashmon, the school official who issued the audit, contended otherwise at the time, noting that the DVDs included such R-rated films as "Monster's Ball" and "Training Day." A comparison of the dates of the food purchases with dates of events at the school indicated that the food was not bought for large school gatherings, Cashmon said.

When Davis was principal of Burroughs, District schools could make disbursements from their activity funds only if the principal and another school employee signed the paperwork. A Burroughs teacher who cosigned with Davis resigned upon the audit's release.

In the wake of the audit, a third signature is required at all D.C. schools.

Davis said that Forest Heights Elementary also has a student activity fund that can be used only with the approval of the principal and at least one other employee. Because she is new to the school, she added, she was unsure of how many signatures were required. However, she said, "we certainly are following the guidelines in the use of that fund."

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