Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Franklin has come under scrutiny by the city's auditors and school administrators for his handling of finances for summer meals, a field trip and an incentive program for troubled youth.
There also has been a criminal investigation of the program's finances, two School Board members said, but Police Chief M. David Hooper would not confirm that.
The Rev. Nelson Harris, chairman of the School Board, refused to confirm or comment on the probe, saying it was a personnel matter.
Franklin said he knows nothing about the probe and has not been questioned by investigators.
Franklin said he often had to use his own money to pay some expenses and then get reimbursed by the school system's financial officers.
"I never handled any school money. I had to get receipts and documentation before I could get reimbursed " he said.
Franklin said he used financial incentives to help keep troubled youth in school and stick with a job after they left school. But the school system's finance procedures wouldn't allow the money to be paid through its normal payroll account. The only way to pay the incentives, he said, was to use his own money and get reimbursed by the school system.
Another disagreement on finances involved an aborted field trip for about 30 students and 18 staff members last summer. The trip was planned to be a tour of historical sites in Virginia. School administrators did not provide any advance money, Franklin said, so he borrowed $5,000 to pay for the trip, which was to last several days..
Superintendent Wayne Harris halted the tour and directed the students to return to Roanoke after two of them reportedly had sexual intercourse on the bus. Franklin said that turned out to be a false report.
Franklin said the group spent almost $5,000 on the trip, but he was reimbursed for only $2,000 because the receipts for the other $3,000 were lost. Franklin said he still owes $3,000 to the teachers' credit union and will have to pay it back unless he finds the receipts.
Franklin also had a conflict with the school system over use of a church men's club to help pay for meals for some alternative-education summer students. Again, Franklin said he had to document the costs before the school system would reimburse the men's club - and that turned out to be more complicated than he had anticipated.
Franklin said he followed the procedures that were mandated in every case.
by CNB