Already under the microscope after state Superintendent Sandy Garrett and the Oklahoma State Board of Education requested an state-sanctioned audit of its financial records, Seminole County’s Butner School District may now be facing “around a $150,000 IRS penalty” as well, Garrett said Wednesday afternoon.
Garrett said the district recently called to inform her office about the IRS penalty and called the action her department is taking against the district “a very serious step.”
Butner School District, which employs 26 teachers and serves around 220 students near Cromwell, removed former Superintendent Mike Bryan in mid-March after he allegedly used a school district credit card to purchase more than $1,000 in personal items at Wal-Mart.
Garrett said an independent auditor, hired by Butner, recently told her office the district didn’t have “the documents necessary” to perform a proper audit. She said the auditor also raised the possibility that the tiny school district may have had some issues involving IRS withholdings from employees’ paychecks.
Garrett said the spot the district finds itself in isn’t a good one. She also said that smaller districts are more prone to these kinds of problems because there is less oversight than at larger school districts.
“This is not a common problem for school districts to have, it’s rare,” Garrett said. “And the fine is quite hefty.”
Brian Morphis, president of the Butner school board, refused to comment on whether the district has been ordered to pay an IRS penalty.
Stephanie Mather, the attorney for the school district, couldn’t be reached Wednesday evening for comment regarding the IRS penalty.
Butner has two schools - a pre-K through eighth-grade school and a high school. The school district’s new superintendent is Jason Price.
Watch for further updates as this story continues to unfold.
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Andrew Knittle may be reached at 214-3926.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
