TALIHINA, Okla. — According to Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd, an audit of Talihina Public Schools found over $11,000 in district credit card spending that was unaccounted for, an attempt by the superintendent to restrict access to school bank records, among other findings.
Byrd said in the statement that the audit was requested by "citizens of the school district" and covered activity between Jan. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2018.
The primary finding in the audit was the $11,686 balance on the school district's credit card that wasn't accounted for with any receipts.
“Without receipts, we are unsure if any of those expenditures were for a lawful business purpose or if they were made for Lockhart’s personal expenses,” Byrd said.
Talihina superintendent Jason Lockhart is accused of spending $2,152 on personal expenses on a credit card reportedly only used for district-related expenses. Byrd said Lockhart repaid over $500 of those expenses, however, a $1,613 balance remained unpaid, which included purchases for alcoholic beverages in the amount of $704.
The audit reported Lockhart "received" over $1,500 for vehicle expenses even though his contract with the district states those expenses were "his responsibility." However, Byrd also said Lockhart had been given an $800 monthly automobile allowance.
“This is a textbook example of what can happen when trust is given to one person who controls a multi-million dollar budget with a school board not paying attention,” Byrd said. “Oklahoma taxpayers appropriated this money for the purpose of providing an education for our children. Instead, an administrator abused that trust to make unauthorized purchases at taxpayer expense. Transparency, oversight, and accountability were disregarded. As a result, Oklahoma's children have been cheated.“
The audit also looked into the fact Lockhart had written a letter to the Talihina branch of Spiro State Bank, requesting to restrict "ownership rights to all Talihina Public School accounts" to only be available to himself and the board-appointed school treasurer at the time.
This letter was allegedly sent after the school board president had requested a copy of a check. The bank notified the school board of Lockhart's request and said it didn't agree but referred to the board on the next steps, who denied Lockhart's alleged attempt to limit their access to the bank account.
The full audit report can be read here, which is available on the Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector’s website.
5NEWS has reached out to Lockhart about Byrd's findings but has not received a response.
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