Wyandanch library trustee said to have changed payroll records will stay on school board

A Wyandanch public library trustee the state comptroller's office says changed payroll records to benefit a nephew who worked at the library will not be asked to take a leave from the hamlet's school board, where she also is a trustee, a spokesman for the school district said.

The trustee, Nancy Holliday, previously presided over both boards, which are independent but have overlapping voting districts.

In a statement Friday, school board spokesman Nathan Jackson said: "Ms. Holliday has been a pillar in the community. Her life has been one of sacrifice for Wyandanch, and the board would not rush to judgment. The [comptroller's] report doesn't say there was anything criminal done, and Ms. Holliday is ready to refute the charges."

Findings of the audit, which covered July 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012, have been referred to the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, the comptroller's office said.

Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Spota, said, "We neither confirm nor deny the existence of a criminal investigation or a potential prosecution."

Library officials say some of the audit's findings are inaccurate; and they have taken steps to improve oversight.

The audit found that Holliday changed payroll records 109 times for Kwaisi McCorvey, a custodian, to reflect that he worked 21.5 hours on one day, and to indicate that he worked on many days when he did not use his timecard.

The changes resulted in $19,534 in questionable pay.

Holliday and McCorvey did not return calls about the findings.

Holliday, 61, is a retired special-needs teacher and Babylon Democratic Committee member. She is serving her third term on the school board and was board president last year.

School board president Thomas Tolliver praised her leadership this summer as "outstanding in the leading and guiding of this board."