Committee hears staff update on vendor-fraud safeguards; tear-gas carriage restricted to vehicles only

The policy committee received an update on April 9 about recent fraud that diverted district funds and the immediate changes staff put in place to close the vulnerability.

District staff described an incident in which a scammer redirected district funds to an improper account; staff said they have tightened vendor-change procedures to prevent similar fraud. “By looking at how it was done, we made some significant adjustments to how we allow our vendors to make changes so that we believe that that avenue is closed off for scammers to be able to siphon money away from the school district,” the superintendent said.

Board members emphasized the importance of rapid notification to the full board when security or fraud concerns arise and asked staff to inform the board promptly of any future incidents. Members treated the topic as a high priority for district operations and internal controls.

Separately, the committee confirmed an earlier decision permitting certain crowd-control spray canisters to be carried in district vehicles (for use only as a last resort), but not carried on an officer’s person inside schools, because of the risk of widespread contamination in a building’s ventilation systems. A board member explained: “We approved it for them to have in their vehicle,” and added that staff should pursue appropriate training and tightly limit any use.

No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting on either topic; staff said safeguards are in place and would notify the board of any further developments.