Trustees at the School City of East Chicago July 8 meeting spent extensive time reviewing the claim docket and invoices, pressing the administration for details about conferences, reimbursements and vendor listings that appeared without participant names or adequate explanation.

Trustee Diane Smith and Trustee Gomez questioned multiple entries: a June 15–18 CertiPort conference in Texas paid from Perkins funds (claim numbers discussed included 118083 and 87303), a hotel/reservation under a single attendee name though multiple staff attended, reimbursements coded simply as “reimbursement” without purpose, and items labeled as medical testing reimbursements. Business office staff and Mr. Pena (accounts/finance staff) were asked to supply invoices and claim-docket references for each questioned entry.

Trustees also asked about background-check services; an invoice (claim 87832) was described in the meeting as the district’s annual Safe Hiring Solutions vendor fee. Other clarifications included purchases for community engagement supplies (claim 87746), monthly payments to Communities In Schools site coordination (claim 87767) and career-coaching supplies paid from a $5,000 grant (Fund172-5).

Why it matters: Trustees said they need clear documentation to ensure grant funds are used properly and to provide public transparency for district spending. Several trustees requested more detailed invoice descriptions (for example, labeling reimbursements as “medical reimbursement” or “mileage reimbursement”) and asked that the business office attach supporting invoices to the claim docket.

Administration response and follow-up: Staff said they would follow up with the requested invoices and provide claim-docket numbers. For the CertiPort conference, the administration identified three attendees: Katrina Alexander, Mrs. McGee and Ms. Stovall; staff said one attendee (who made the reservations) appeared as the named contact on the pre-run docket. On a separate procurement matter, trustees were told Stone Group final bills were on the docket and that Precision Controls is providing ongoing HVAC controls support after the Stone Group contract ended.

Ending: Trustees asked the administration to supply invoices, attach purchaser names to claim-docket items and label reimbursements for future packets so the board can perform routine fiscal oversight.