Audit reveals theft at St. Martin school

Although the formal audit of the St. Martin School Board’s finances during the 2013-14 fiscal year resulted in a “clean” or “unmodified” opinion from the firm of Kolder, Champagne, Slaven & Co., LLC, the audit did reveal an area of “material noncompliance” regarding the misappropriation of funds at Breaux Bridge High School.
Auditors are still researching the issue, but auditor Russel Champagne told board members that at least $19,935 had been stolen from a school account. Board officials have already filed charges of theft of more than $1,000 against former BBHS secretary Jennie Fourtier, who has since resigned her position.
Fourtier has entered the Pretrial Diversion Program administered by the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and has been placed on supervised probation for two years, during which she will have to pay supervision fees, perform community service, complete a theft prevention course, and report for monthly supervision. She has already paid restitution in the amount of $8,800 with $11,135 remaining due.
If she meets all requirements of the program, at the end of her probation all charges will be dismissed.
The audit noted one other relatively minor noncompliance issue in that the board was ten days late in adopting its FY 2013-14 budget which was due in September 2013, when the system was transitioning to a new superintendent and chief financial officer.
But otherwise the audit showed board finances to be in very good condition, with a general fund surplus of just over $31 million as of June 30, 2014.
Champagne said that a sound financial system should have enough surplus funds to operate for four months in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency. It would take about $22 million to cover this period so Champagne said the June 30 balance reflected a “very healthy” position.
This substantial fund balance has helped the board sell a series of bonds over the past several years at a low interest rate, saving the system and taxpayers a considerable sum in interest payments.
In other business during the board’s first meeting of the new year:
•District 10 representative Mark Hebert was elected board president, succeeding Russel Foti, and Richard Potier of District 7 was named vice president.
•It was disclosed that Leonard Bertrand Contractors of Opelousas had been awarded a $1,219,000 contract to construct eight new classrooms at Cecilia High School.