Lawmakers launch probe of school board group

DES MOINES - Maxine Kilcrease headed up the Iowa Association of School Boards for less than a year before she was placed on leave amid questionable practices inside the organization.

Now the IASB is the target of a potential criminal probe and has drawn the ire of state lawmakers for the possible misuse of taxpayer dollars.

The IASB is investigating why Kilcrease, whose contract established a $210,000 annual salary, was being paid what amounted to $367,000 per year.

Kevin Schick, a consultant serving as chief financial officer, also has been investigated for allegedly using an IASB credit card for airplane tickets to Bora Bora unrelated to business travel, officials said.

IASB spokesman Megan Forgrave said the size of the possible financial shortfall the organization is facing is not yet known, and the organization is waiting for an audit to be completed.

Iowa school districts across the state pay annual dues for their membership in the IASB, which is one reason the case has sparked such interest.

The association assists local school boards in a variety of ways and advocates on behalf of education issues.

Iowa Attorney General spokesman Bob Brammer said the office is monitoring the situation to see if a criminal investigation or civil action is warranted.

Meanwhile, the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee has launched hearings into what happened at IASB.

Committee Co-Chair Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City, said lawmakers are still trying to understand what happened and who was involved.

“It's like an onion; we keep peeling back layers and every layer we peel has more questions with it,” Lensing said.

The committee has invited several current or former IASB officials to testify and has said it is prepared to use its subpoena powers to compel those who do not show up voluntarily. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Salary increase under a cloud

Questions still surround how Kilcrease's salary was increased.

The purported signature of past IASB board president Jack Hill is on a contract raising Kilcrease's salary. But IASB attorney Matt Brick said Hill looked at the contract and doesn't believe the signature belongs to him.

The IASB is investigating; Hill has taken a leave of absence from the board and could not be reached for comment. IASB board member Susan Shaw of Forest City said the board didn't know about Kilcrease's increase in pay.

Shaw said Kilcrease's references were checked and she came highly recommended when she was hired.

“I wanted to trust her,” Shaw said.

But she said the board was misled by top IASB officials about what was going on.

She said management told the board that IASB's accounting software system was obsolete and that things had not been entered for several months. Board members also were told that outside auditors looking into the IASB's finances were not capable of doing the job, Shaw said. Those auditors have said IASB management stopped them from sharing their concerns about IASB's finances and prac­tices with the full IASB board.

IASB board member George Wheeler, who also serves on the Fort Madison school board, joined the IASB board in January. He said he thinks he's only met Kilcrease once but agrees with the decision to put her on administrative leave.

“I think that was the right thing to do,” Wheeler said.

Kilcrease, through an attorney, has declined to comment.

Kilcrease's hire

When Kilcrease was hired last year, she wasn't a part of the first pool of finalists for the IASB's top job.

An Omaha-area search firm presented a list of candidates that a selection committee narrowed down to interview.

“The board didn't feel that any of those three were the right fit for our organization,” said Russ Wiesley, IASB board president.

Kilcrease's name surfaced during a second interview process, Wiesley said.

“Everyone felt comfortable that she was the best fit for our organization at that time,” Wiesley said.

Before Kilcrease's tenure at IASB, she served close to three years as the administrator of the Heartland Area Education Agency in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston.

An agency official declined a request for interviews about Kilcrease.

IASB's future

Lensing said it is hard to understand how Kilcrease could have made the decisions she did without board approval and formed an executive council that left everyone else in the dark. Lensing suspects some improprieties might have been going on even before Kilcrease joined the organization last year.

“We just need people in who can explain and connect the dots for us,” Lensing said.