Another school district in cash flap; $528,000 returned

William Floyd's '03 self-audit leads to discovery that $528G was gone; a former employee pays it back

By SANDRA PEDDIE | STAFF WRITER

June 29, 2004

Financial irregularities have surfaced at a second Long Island school district as officials of the William Floyd district in Mastic Beach confirmed yesterday that $528,000 in missing funds has been repaid by a former employee and a second key manager has been dismissed.

School Superintendent Richard Hawkins, who acknowledged the irregularities after Newsday learned of them from sources, said they were discovered after district accountants did a routine year-end audit in June 2003 and found a discrepancy of a single penny.

Hawkins did not say why such a small discrepancy would prompt further review, but said it led them to look over past records and discover that former district treasurer James Wright had taken not one, but two, $350,000 separation payments upon his retirement six months earlier, in January 2003. Further investigation led to the discovery that $528,000 was missing, district officials said. Hawkins said Wright paid back that amount to the district, and officials turned over records to the district attorney in January.

The William Floyd disclosures come on the heels of a financial scandal in Roslyn, where former chief financial officer Pamela Gluckin has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree grand larceny for allegedly stealing more than $1 million from the district.

William Floyd officials insisted their situation is nothing like the Roslyn scandal because they found the problems themselves, ordered audits and turned over documents to the Suffolk County District Attorney.

"This is clearly not a Roslyn case in my mind," Hawkins said. "We found this internally. It hasn't come to light because we didn't want to jeopardize the [district attorney's] investigation."

Two other school officials, who asked not to be named, confirmed Hawkins' account.

Wright used to supervise Gluckin, who, then known as Pamela McCormick, named him as a reference on her application for a job at Roslyn. Hawkins said few people in the district even remembered Gluckin, who started out there as a bus driver in 1974.

Wright has not been charged with any wrongdoing, but Suffolk DA spokesman Robert Clifford said yesterday that he is under investigation.

Wright's attorney, Matthew Rosenblum of Central Islip, said, "The people at William Floyd will not be out one penny as a result of the allegations he's facing."

Hawkins said the DA's investigation led to school officials discovering more financial irregularities.

The superintendent declined to describe the irregularities, but said that because of them the district canceled the contract of Daniel Cifonelli, acting superintendent for business, two weeks ago.

Cifonelli had retired from the district in August 1998, with an annual pension of $133,428, state records show. He then returned to the district as a consultant, earning more than $743,000 from July 1999 through May 2004, on top of his pension. He received an additional $28,791 for expenses over the same time period.

Hawkins said the district decided to retain Cifonelli as a consultant after his retirement because the district was expanding its facilities and Cifonelli had expertise in construction. His compensation package, he said, was not uncommon.

Cifonelli could not be reached for comment.

Hawkins said that because William Floyd had made such great progress during the past 10 years, the discovery of the financial improprieties was a real blow. He has slept and eaten little over recent months, he said. "It's like a heart punch."