St. Joseph board of education hires lawyers

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - The St. Joseph Board of Education has retained a law firm in the wake of a federal investigation.

The St. Joseph News-Press reports (https://bit.ly/1jqPr3d ) the board approved retaining the Mickes Goldman O’Toole firm Friday.

Federal investigators have been looking into the school district’s finances amid questions about stipends given to a number of top school officials without school board approval.

During the meeting Friday, Superintendent Fred Czerwonka also read portions of a review by lawyer Thomas Mickes of the FBI investigation and the state audit so far. The report listed a provision that stated Czerwonka had the authority to issue the $5,000 stipends paid to administrators.

Mickes’ report also said he found no co-mingling of federal education dollars with state and local revenue in the last five internal audits.

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Information from: St. Joseph News-Press/St. Joe, Missouri, https://www.newspressnow.com