When Montgomery Advertiser editors questioned the president of Bishop State Community College two months ago about her role in the operation of a tax-exempt foundation associated with the college, she claimed that she did not control spending by the foundation.
But a recently released report on questionable financial practices at the community college in Mobile indicates that President Yvonne Kennedy directly controlled spending from the foundation.
The report -- the results of an investigation of Bishop State finances by the office of the chancellor of the two-year college system -- also alleged significant financial abuses and wide-ranging absence of fiscal accountability at the state-funded two-year college.
Kennedy's claim that she did not control the Bishop State Foundation's spending is important, because the president is also a state legislator who directed that more than $94,000 in taxpayer money from her legislative discretionary account go to the foundation for which she serves as one of the directors.
Kennedy also told Montgomery Advertiser editors that the legislative money she directed to the Bishop State Foundation all went to help the "Best Grill," a non-profit program operated by another private non-profit organization, the MLK Avenue Redevelopment Corp. Kennedy also serves as a board member of the MLK redevelopment organization.
Despite her claims, the report by the chancellor's office states: "The President of Bishop State Community College authorizes all expenditures of Foundation funds and directs the Business Manager to prepare checks to make purchases. The Business Manager stated that Foundation checks are pre-signed by two Foundation Board members and kept in the College Business Office."
If the report is correct, then the arrangement used by Kennedy to disburse her legislative discretionary money completely ignores any system of checks and balances on how such money should be used. Even if Kennedy's claims of where the money went are true, it now appears she directed taxpayer money be sent to a foundation for which she controlled the spending. That is just plain wrong.
But the foundation is just the start of the fiscal problems at Bishop State. Six people, including three current Bishop State employees on paid leave, have been charged with the theft of more than $75,000 in financial aid money. And the investigation by a team appointed by Interim Chancellor Thomas Corts found more than two dozen separate findings of financial problems at the college.
Among the findings:
? Some students who had received other forms of financial aid to help pay for tuition still received Pell Grants for the full cost of tuition, a practice which could allow them to pocket the difference.
? Twenty-eight students who were not on the rosters of a college team were found to have received athletic scholarships. The report cited a "grossly aberrant" award process for athletic scholarships.
? Several instances in which students were carried in the rolls of classes until after the point at which they no longer would have to return federal financial aid. The students -- some of them college employees -- then withdrew from classes.
? Students who were also college employees receiving financial aid did not attend classes and still received college credits.
The report stated: "Discrepancies in the administration of federal financial aid at BSCC were found by the investigative team to be widespread and pervasive. Student eligibility could not be verified; both Title IV student financial aid regulations and State Board of Education policies were not followed; internal controls were found to be virtually nonexistent."
The report also cited "numerous examples of inappropriate employee actions" including "disbursing cash to a family member, determining who receives scholarships, withdrawing oneself from class, and an employee supervising a family member on a federal work study job."
As the report noted, such problems as those at Bishop State could lead to "limitation, suspension, and termination of participation in federal Title IV programs." If the school lost its ability to receive federal financial aid, Bishop State essentially would have to close its doors, since 80 percent of its students receive it.
The U.S. Department of Education already has required Bishop State to reimburse the federal government for $150,000 in federal aid. The agency also requires the college to document each student's eligibility before the school can receive money.
As president of Bishop State, Kennedy bears the ultimate responsibility for each of these failings. If there were only a handful of problems involving a wayward employee or two, Kennedy might be excused for not knowing about them. But the chancellor's report makes it clear that there was a fundamental failure in leadership.
Kennedy's leadership failures should make it clear to the State Board of Education that it is not in the best interests of students, taxpayers or the state for a two-year college president also to serve in the Legislature. There simply is not enough time in the day for anyone to do both jobs adequately, much less well. The board cannot keep a two-year college presidents from running for the Legislature, but it can -- and should -- remove them as president.
