CAPE DISTRICT TIGHTENS REINS ON TRAVEL RECORDS

Efforts to calculate the number of days Superintendent Neyland Clark has been out of the office on business and vacation show that better record-keeping is needed for administrative travel at Cape Girardeau public schools.

In February, questions about the district's sloppy record-keeping for an American Express account prompted the school board to close the credit card account and draft three pages of regulations for travel expenses.

Poor record-keeping for the superintendent's travel and vacation days has prompted the district to institute changes to keep better track of all district travel.

Under the old system, several administrators had responsibility to check and approve travel expenses, depending on the reason for the trips.

Under the new system, the board finance committee will review Clark's travel expenses. Clark will review business manager Larry Dew's travel expenses, and Dew will review everyone else's.

A folder is being completed for each major trip so compiling information will be easier.

Dew said everyone in the district is more aware of procedures for travel expenses and are carefully following the rules.

"This whole thing has raised the consciousness of everyone, and that's good," Dew said.

Board members John Campbell and Steve Wright are hopeful the changes will prevent future problems. Many of the problems resulted from a lack of detailed receipts, especially for the superintendent.

The initial questions were raised by Amy Randol, a school volunteer and critic of Clark.

In her research she attempted to tally how many days Clark was out of the district. She used hotel bills and mileage checks and calculated that the superintendent was out of the district 136 days since coming to Cape Girardeau in 1991.

She said coming up with an accurate figure was difficult because of missing information.

The school board's memo answering her questions reflects the same difficulty. It contains errors and inconsistencies about the days the superintendent was out of the district on business trips or on vacation.

Since her inquiry, Randol has received copies of two memos, dated March 7 and March 28, with explanations of Clark's travels and expenses. Neither memo was addressed to her.

"I continue to be very disappointed at the quality and the accuracy of both of the responses," Randol said.

Conflicts exist between the two responses, and some responses don't agree with documentation.

Attorney Diane C. Howard, personnel director Tim Niggle and Dew spent many hours trying to determine where the superintendent had been and how long he stayed. Dew said he has spent much of the last two weeks trying to sort through receipts and verify dates.

On March 28, Howard sent a review of Clark's travel to Campbell detailing some inconsistencies from the March 7 memo.

Campbell said he wasn't aware that inconsistencies might exist when he delivered the first memo to Randol.

Campbell said only a few differences have been discovered. But the review took a lot of effort and time.

He said new practices implemented by the school district should prevent these problems from reoccurring.

Wright said, "I would like to get accurate information. Are we going to get that? I don't know."

He said perhaps the district should admit the difficulty and move on. He, too, thinks new procedures will make it easier to track the travels of school employees.

Howard explained that she and Niggle compiled the list based on Clark's personal calendars and the office vacation calendar. They didn't check the dates against mileage, hotel bills or other expense accounts. Clark didn't always follow the calendar, so inconsistencies appeared.

The list also reflects days Clark was "truly out of the district's geographical area during the entire workday," Howard said.

Trips to Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Festus and other communities weren't included because the superintendent was in the office for at least part of the day, Howard said.

Clark does receive mileage reimbursement for trips outside the school district.