An audit by the Missouri Auditor’s Office alleges that former Fox C-6 School District Superintendent Dianne Critchlow inappropriately spent taxpayer money or misused district resources in an amount ranging from $470,941 to $1,100,116, going back to 2010.
The misappropriated funds include $214,000 that auditors allege directly benefited Critchlow or her husband, Jamie Critchlow, another former Fox administrator.
State Auditor Nicole Galloway spoke about the 105-page audit during a press conference May 25 at the Wainwright Building in St. Louis.
“We found serious mismanagement of taxpayers’ dollars,” Galloway said. “I think the former superintendent used taxpayers’ dollars for her own benefit and the benefit of those close to her.”
She said the audit – which was requested by the Fox C-6 Board of Education – focused on the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years, but it cited inappropriate actions in other years, too.
Galloway said her office does not pursue criminal charges stemming from its audits, but will work with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and any other government body seeking charges against Critchlow or her husband.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge issued a press release saying his office received a copy of the audit on May 24 and is reviewing it to consider possible criminal charges. Due to the audit report’s length, it might take several weeks to decide whether any charges will be filed, he said.
Wegge said he would have no further comment during the review period.
Dianne Critchlow’s attorney, Brandy D. Barth with the firm of Newton, Wright and Barth, called the audit report a “biased and one-sided account filled with inaccuracies, half information and misleading statements.”
She said Critchlow was “born and raised in Arnold and devoted her entire career to the students, staff and community of the Fox C-6 School District,” and noted that Critchlow and the district received “accolades and awards” under her leadership.
Dianne Critchlow, 50, retired early from the district and Jamie Critchlow was fired, both in 2014.
Galloway said her office found “a series of serious issues.”
Her office gave the school district a “poor” rating, the lowest of four possible ratings from a state audit.
Galloway also took to task the Fox Board of Education for not overseeing Critchlow’s behavior.
“Checks and balances were not in place,” she said. “There was no accountability and no oversight by the board.”
She noted the district’s administration and members of the Board of Education have had almost a complete turnover since the time of the audit.
The audit began in September 2014 and, at that time, the Auditor’s Office said the audit could take a year.
Galloway said Critchlow’s lack of cooperation with the Auditor’s Office stretched out the time it took to complete the audit.
“Through her attorney, she declined to meet with us,” Galloway said.
Barth disputed that.
In a written statement, she said, “Dr. Critchlow has cooperated in this audit, yet very few of her responses were included in the auditor’s report.”
She said Critchlow “initiated contact with the Auditor’s Office after months of being ignored … and voluntarily provided multiple written responses and additional documentation.”
Barth asserted that the Fox school board approved all expenditures “on at least three different levels on a monthly basis.”
Galloway said she and her staff uncovered a number of questionable expenditures:
■ There were a series of adjusted contracts and administrator raises based on incorrect and inconsistent application of salary schedules.
In some cases, base salaries were increased without board oversight and incidents were found of salary adjustments made with no explanation. A number of administrators, including the superintendent and the administrator she later married, received inappropriate salary increases not approved by the board. Dianne Critchlow’s compensation was boosted by about $20,000 and Jamie Critchlow’s by $89,000, the report said.
Other administrators were also inappropriately overpaid, the audit alleged, ranging from $42,958 to $175,028 in the 2012-1013 school year and ranging from $213,983 to $711,088 in the 2013-2014 school year.
Gina Terlizzi, director of communications for the Auditor’s Office, said auditors came up with a range to determine the lowest and the highest amounts of overpayments, rather than examining each administrator’s pay sheets over the two years.
She characterized the overpayments as “mismanagement under the leadership of Dr. Critchlow.”
■ The board received bids for a $34,000 vehicle for Critchlow to use on official business, but she bought a car that cost $9,000 more without board approval.
■ Credit card records showed hundreds of purchases, totaling $96,000, that appear to be personal in nature or otherwise inappropriate, without adequate board review and in violation of the district’s credit card policy.
■ Thousands of dollars within the $96,000 amount were spent on gift cards for businesses ranging from Buffalo Wild Wings to Best Buy, with Critchlow indicating the cards were for needy families – even though the district had no formal gift card program for the poor. Fox officials were unable to find any documentation for card receipts.
■ The superintendent allowed questionable purchases on behalf of the district by her husband. “It was a conflict of interest,” Galloway said.
■ The superintendent used a district credit card to pay a $104 fine from a red light ticket from Ellisville she received while driving a district vehicle. She claimed to have repaid the fine money to the district, but auditors found no evidence of the repayment.
Instead, the audit said, Critchlow placed dollar bills and coins on a copy machine and signed the photocopy as a purported receipt.
No Fox officials attended the state auditor’s press conference.
Current Superintendent Jim Wipke said those now running the district must find ways to move forward.
“It’s time to move forward and work on building trust with our community,” he said.
The school district made numerous responses to the allegations in the audit, generally acknowledging the validity of the complaints, and indicating it has demanded repayment from Dianne Critchlow for “questionable or improper” use of district money.
“Dianne Critchlow has failed to respond to district demands for repayments,” the district reported.
In a 2013 story about Dianne Critchlow’s retirement, the Leader estimated that she would be entitled to an annual pension of about $142,000, according to the Public School Retirement System of Missouri calculator, based on her salary at the time and years of service.
Dianne Critchlow had a $260,518 salary at the time of her retirement and Jamie Critchlow had a $124,079 salary when he was fired.
In the audit, the school district indicated it planned to submit the questionable credit card expenditures to the county prosecutor, and if prosecution occurs, notify the Public Educational Employees Retirement System (PEERS) “about the potential need for correction of forfeiture of pension benefits.”
Dearld Snider, PEERS assistant executive director of operations, said he is prohibited from discussing a specific person, but said pensions can be adjusted if salary overpayment or fraud is proven.
“We have a correction of errors statute,” Snider said. “We can correct any retirement benefits that are necessary.”
The complete audit is available at auditor.mo.gov.