THORNTON, Colo. – Taxpayers and journalists often take school officials at their word when they say money is tight and budget cuts are necessary.

Perhaps a little more scrutiny is necessary.

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One shred of evidence comes from the Adams 12 Five Star school district in Colorado, where school officials cited a lack of funds as the reason for several consecutive years of serious budget cuts that impacted student learning.

But then it became apparent that the district was exaggerating its financial problems and withholding available funds while still making budget cuts.

As Professor James Sorenson of the University of Denver’s School of Business told a local television station, “Ultimately, this is being very unfair to the students of this district.”

The Adams 12 Five Star district made deep budget cuts in at least three recent school years – $22.2 million in 2010-11, $21.6 million in 2011-12 and $8 million in 2012-13, according to information published by the district.

As a result, the district eliminated more than 200 jobs, including teacher, high school counselor and reading and math coaching positions, according to various media reports. Middle school sports were eliminated, athletic participation fees at other levels were increased, and health and retirement contributions rose for employees.

Employees who remained on the job also paid the price. Beginning in July 2012, certified and administrative staff were forced to accept 1.5 percent pay cuts to help fund the district’s payments to the state pension system, according to the Denver Post.

Adams 12 officials tried the usual tactic of blaming cuts in state funding for the alleged budget shortfalls.

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“Starting in fiscal year 2010-2011, the Colorado Legislature added a new “negative factor” to make across-the-board cuts to education spending,” the district wrote on its website. “This has required Adams 12 Five Star Schools to make a series of budget cuts.”

Now it seems pretty clear that the district was holding back a lot of money and hiding it from the public.

That came to light through various sources, including the district’s teachers union, which had been claiming for some time that the district was holding back in contract negotiations.

But hard evidence came from Gina Holub, the district’s former internal auditor, who was fired after questioning the ethics of the district’s chief financial officer, according to Fox 31 Denver.

“Funding was on the decline,” Holub told the television station in February, 2013. “They were looking to make cuts and they were intentionally inflating the numbers to justify the cuts.”

The district’s superintendent, Chris Gdowski, initially reacted to the situation by sending a letter to parents, denying Holub’s accusations and attempting to discredit her in the process.

He described Holub as being a “disgruntled former employee,” according to Fox 31 Denver. He wrote that her accusations about unethical and illegal budgeting were “absolutely false.”

But Holub’s accusations were confirmed by Sorenson, who agreed to investigate district finances in conjunction with Fox 31 Denver.

“My analysis suggests it is probably 25 to 28 million dollars of misstatement,” Sorenson told the television station in February 2013.

An audit found that the district’s reserve fund had a balance of approximately $50 million, including about $28 million in unassigned funds, at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year, according to the Post.

District officials claimed that the reserve fund was kept large to maintain enough money to pay off a special retirement bonus for teachers. The Adams 12 school board agreed to the payments in union negotiations years before.

The bonuses, which totaled $79,000 for teachers with 20 years of service and half that amount for 13 years of service, went to teachers who were covered by union contracts that were in effect from 1990 through 2007, according to the Denver Post.

Amazingly, a district official told the media that officials had been “hesitant to talk about” the retirement bonuses, because the public may not approve.

“These type of stipend payments may not be a benefit that the general public and our taxpayers would agree with,” Mark Hinson, the human resources director for Adams 12 told the Denver Post.

But a few months later, after Horeb and Sorenson went public with their accusations, the situation in the district seemed much different.

A Denver Post headline from July 2013 said, “Adams 12 changing budget practice, finding millions in underspending.”

“After a year of deflecting accusations of questionable and unethical budget practices, Adams 12 Five Star Schools officials say they are changing the way they develop district budgets,” the Post reported.

“The district’s continuous overestimates of expenditures, resulting in millions of dollars that went unspent even as the district insisted more cuts were required, were at the heart of accusations made by the teachers union, and echoed through audit reports.”

District officials had already identified about $5 in unspent money that was supposed to be used for employee benefits, the newspaper reported. Another unspent $1.5 million was discovered that was had been earmarked for utility expenses.

“And the district’s budget officials are just getting started,” the Post reported.

The district agreed on a generous new contract with the teachers union that included pay increases for teachers, a decrease in health insurance costs for employees, and more money for teacher/administrator effectiveness training, according to the newspaper.

The district also agreed to restore high school counseling positions that had been eliminated.

The moral of the story? When any arm of government – including local schools – cries poverty and claims that expenses must be cut, concerned parties should look a little more closely.

As Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust, but verify.”