SUMTER, S.C. – Sumter County school officials couldn’t figure out why the district is facing a multi-million dollar budget shortfall, so they hired a consultant for $1,000 a day to figure it out.

An anonymous letter sent to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and the Sumter County School Board alleges high-level school district employees are scamming the system, and calls out district consultant Scott Allan’s $1,000-per-day arrangement to investigate the district’s $6.2 million budget shortfall, WISTV reports.

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The district hired Allan in January to work three days per week through the spring to “analyze the district’s internal financial controls and management processes and to recommend to the board changes to ensure the District’s financial integrity moving forward, explain the reasons for the district’s current condition, advise the board on reduction of expenses for this year, and closely monitor the district’s cash position at all times,” according to district records.

“He also will assist the district’s finance staff in implementing systemic controls and advise the board on next year’s budget,” according to WISTV.

Later in January, the board voted to eliminate overtime for all employees, cut 47 different positions in the district, and slashed stipend pay in half. The board also froze the amounts budgeted for district travel, substitute teachers and conferences.

The changes resulted in a $6.8 million savings, which district leaders said was “painful” but “cannot be avoided,” WISTV reported in February.

“The cuts are large and painful, cannot be avoided, and must begin immediately,” the statement says. “The cuts affect many aspects of school operations but are designed to have as little impact as possible on academic instruction.”

Allan said a large part of the problem with the district’s finances was 37 people who were hired without funding to support them. A total of 49 positions were added with only enough funding for 12 positions, Allan told the large crowd at a February school board meeting, where many toted signs calling for new district leadership.

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In May, the school board floated the idea of closing several schools to save an estimated $3.6 million, but board members tabled that discussion amid backlash from the public, WLTX reports.

But the anonymous letter writer alleges the district’s money problems are not entirely based on “widespread overspending,” as Allan claims, and also involve high-ranking school district officials bilking schools for their own personal enrichment.

WISTV reports:

The letter, which was also delivered to the Sumter County School Board at a recent meeting, alleges one of the causes of the shortfall is items purchased by one of these high-level employees for personal use. A detailed list of items, which includes furniture, portable carports, cookware, rugs, plants, a laser projector, an outdoor water slide, and even groceries, was attached to the letter. 

However, the anonymous writer, who says they are afraid of retribution, also alleges this employee was given a portable classroom once owned by the district to use as a vacation home in Beaufort. The writer says this portable classroom is one of 30 that have “disappeared” in recent years.

The letter then goes on to claim district leaders have attempted to “spin or blame” the budget situation on a previous superintendent who resigned in 2015 even though leaders were allegedly told about the district’s dire financial straits in October 2016.

Those financial issues, according to the letter, have not been properly detailed by Allan. The letter alleges he has not provided any “concrete information” on what led to the deficit.

Sumter County Sheriff’s Lt. Ken Bell said the department forwarded the letter to SLED – the statewide South Carolina Law Enforcement Division – to avoid any conflict of interest in investigating the allegations.

“Because we have school resource officers in schools, Sheriff (Anthony) Davis felt that it would be a conflict of interest for us to investigate,” Bell said. “So he sent it to SLED.”

District officials and those with the state Department of Education, meanwhile, have refused to discuss the allegations beyond acknowledging the letter itself.

“Our policy is not to comment on ongoing investigations,” DOE spokesman Ryan Brown said.

District officials wrote in a prepared statement that “After an anonymous letter was presented to the Board of Trustees at the June 5, 2017 Board meeting, the superintendent handed this matter over to local law enforcement.”

The statement alleges the district is fully cooperating with the investigation.