Senator Wants Probe Of School Scandal Keough Calls On Attorney General To Investigate Actions Of Bonner County Special Education Director

Sen. Shawn Keough is calling on the state attorney general’s office to look into allegations of wrongdoing by Bonner County’s special education director, Robert Howman.

Howman made a call about his department’s finances that was recorded on a telephone message machine. A tape of the call was turned over anonymously to The Spokesman-Review, Keough and the teachers union last week.

Union President Joan Head already has called for an investigation of the school district, and Keough echoed her concerns.

“The tape appeared on my desk, and I was very alarmed by the implications after listening to it,” said Keough, R-Sandpoint. “By the tone of the tape, it indicates a potential for laws being broken. I have asked the attorney general’s office for assistance because, in my mind, this is a grave concern.”

In Howman’s message, he talked about making sure records in his office matched those in the central office for expenditures of federal funds. If the records did not match, Howman said, central office administrators needed to be contacted so the numbers could be “straightened out in their books.”

“If we don’t straighten this out, we are all going to be in deep (expletive deleted), big-time,” Howman said on the tape.

The tape also was turned over to Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson, who said it is being investigated.

Howman has not returned calls to comment on the tape or his department’s finances. The school board called a special meeting early Monday, but chairman Rebecca Hawkins said she could not elaborate on the closed-door session. A written statement will be issued from the central office, she said.

The board did authorize a special audit of the special education department. But Superintendent Max Harrell said a cursory review of the books indicated no problems with bookkeeping. He also dismissed concerns about Howman’s taped message. Harrell has not heard the tape but saw a rough transcript of it.

“It’s making a mountain out of molehill,” Harrell said.

One of Howman’s main worries in the message was payments the district made for one special education student who was sent to a drug treatment center in Montana.

The district is under fire for spending about $79,000 for the yearlong program for one student. Harrell insists the district must foot the bill according to federal law or be sued by the student’s parents.

Howman’s taped call focused on the money spent on the student. Harrell said it appears Howman wanted only to make sure the district was following federal regulations.

“The intent of the message he left is … (that) everyone seems to be in an uproar over this so we had better dig this stuff up and make sure those (reports) are reconciled,” Harrell said. The paper trail shows the district is in compliance, he added.

Harrell also said he isn’t sure why Howman used foul language when he said people would be in big trouble if the reports in his office and the central office didn’t match.

“I don’t know why Bob used that terminology; he may have been upset about other things.”

For one, Harrell said, Howman was on a cellular phone calling from Priest River and he may have been having trouble with the phone cutting out. Howman also has been under pressure because his department is $180,000 in debt, adding to a half-million-dollar deficit for the district.

“If you are in Bob Howman’s place and all the attention is brought to bear on special services and people are continually putting you under the magnifying glass, I would be a little short, too,” Harrell said.

Harrell and the trustees are trying to find out who leaked the tape to the public. A student’s name was used on the message, violating his right to privacy. If the person is found, he or she will be disciplined.

“Someone was illegally taping phone messages, … and we are trying to get to the bottom of that,” Harrell said.

The state Department of Education already is investigating where and how the Bonner County district spends its money. The teachers union, which has worked without a new contract for a year, has polled its members for a vote of no confidence in Harrell and other administrators because of problems in the district.

Insinuating the union has fostered the controversy, Harrell said the union vote, the taped message and criticism about administrative spending had surfaced just as teachers went back to negotiate a contract.

“It’s amazing how coincidental some of these things are, considering we got back to negotiations last week,” he said.

Head, the union president, said that suggestion is ludicrous. If the public could hear the taped message, it would have a lot of concerns and it would have nothing to do with teacher salaries, she said.

“We (the union) have been telling the board and administration about problems in this district for a long time and it has fallen on deaf ears.”

, DataTimes