Former CL school leader under investigation for spending at Mason City

Lake School Board likely to discuss issue at Jan. 8 meeting

by Marianne Gasaway

Anita Micich, who served as Clear Lake School District Superintendent through a sharing agreement with the Mason City Community School District for six years, is identified in a special investigation conducted by Auditor of State Mary Mosiman.

The special investigation was requested by MCCSD officials as a result of concerns identified with the allocation of salary increases approved by the MCCSD Board of Education (Board) and contributions to certain tax-sheltered annuity (TSA) accounts for the period July 1, 2009 through Aug. 31, 2017. The  concerns were communicated to the Office of Auditor of State during a meeting preceding issuance of the report on the reaudit of the District’s audit report for fiscal year 2015 issued Aug. 21, 2017.

In a report issued Friday, Dec. 28,  Mosiman stated the special investigation identified $2,238,952.08 of improper disbursements comprised of $108,673.24 identified in the report on the reaudit and $2,130,278.84 identified in the report.

The $2,238,952.08 of improper disbursements identified includes $1,344,314.30 of contract salary issued to various MCCSD administrators, $217,405.64 for MCCSD’s share of FICA and IPERS on the improper payroll, $387,682.09 of MCCSD contributions to TSA accounts for various administrators, $171,998.36 for the resignation package awarded to the former Superintendent, Dr. Anita Micich, and $117,551.69 of vacation balance payouts to various MCCSD administrators.

The $1,344,314.30 of improper contract salary identified is comprised of actual salary issued to 66 employees which exceeded the authorized salary calculated using the percentage increases approved by the Board and other monetary benefits, such as vehicle allowances and cell phone allowances, awarded to employees without a provision in their contract and/or approval by the Board.

Mosiman also reported the Superintendent position held by Dr. Micich was shared between MCCSD and the Clear Lake Community School District (Clear Lake CSD) for the period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2016. As part of that sharing agreement, MCCSD billed Clear Lake CSD for its portion of Dr. Micich’s salary and benefits. Based on a comparison of the percentage to be billed in accordance with the sharing agreement to the amount actually billed, $7,370 of overbillings from MCCSD to Clear Lake CSD were identified. Clear Lake CSD paid MCCSD for all billings received.

The Clear Lake School Board has not discussed Mosiman’s report, according to Board President Chyrl Bergvig.  However, she expects it will appear on the Board’s next meeting agen-

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da, which is scheduled for Jan. 8.

Mosiman’s report includes recommendations to strengthen MCCSD’s internal controls and overall operations, such as improving segregation of duties, ensuring all service contracts are reviewed and approved by the Board, reviewing various Board policies to ensure they are appropriate, complete, and properly followed. In addition, the Board, or a designated Board member, should perform an independent review of payroll to ensure approved salary increases are properly calculated and applied.

Copies of the report have been filed with the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Cerro Gordo County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office. A copy of the report is available for review in the Office of Auditor of State and on the Auditor of State’s web site at auditor.iowa.gov/reports/audit-reports.

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