Conclude Parent Coordinator Got Improper $37G

Conclude Parent Coordinator Got Improper $37G

A former Parent Coordinator in The Bronx allowed more than $37,000 in salary to be directly deposited into her bank account after her resignation in 2004, according to the school system's Special Commissioner of Investigation, Richard J. Condon.

Region I Supervisor Allen Godlewicz alerted SCI to the glitch in March after a routine audit determined that Juanita Marte had been getting paid despite submitting a letter of resignation Nov. 15, 2004.

'Used Money From Start'

When interviewed by SCI, Ms. Marte claimed that she was aware of the deposits, but did not use that money until June 2005, when she began to have financial difficulties. However, the report states that a review of her bank records indicated that she used the additional money throughout the time she received it. While Mr. Condon recommended that Ms. Marte be placed on DOE's ineligible list and required to reimburse the money she received, he also said it is clear that "resignation information often [does] not successfully transfer from the regional school to the Regional Operations Center or the DOE Payroll department."

A DOE spokesman indicated that the department would follow Mr. Condon's suggestions.

"We thank Special Commissioner Condon for bringing this to our attention," DOE spokesman Keith Kalb said in a May 3 statement. "We will pursue restitution and we are in the process of moving all administrative employees, including parent coordinators, to our automated time system which will immediately drop a former employee."

Mr. Condon also forwarded his report to the Bronx District Attorney, and the city's Office of Legal Services.