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Aug 7, 2008 6:56 pm US/Central
Alleged Embezzlement Could Be End Of Charter School
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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A search warrant filed on Thursday said Joel Pourier used the money for his own personal use. Pourier said he has documentation to account for the missing $160,000 that an audit uncovered.
CBS
A Minneapolis charter school administrator is under investigation, accused of embezzling more than $100,000 of school funds.
A search warrant filed on Thursday said Joel Pourier used the money for his own personal use. Pourier said he has documentation to account for the missing $160,000 that an audit uncovered.
However, his financial decisions will most likely result in the 37-year-old school closing for good.
"I think everybody's in a state of shock. I think everybody always trusted Joel, always believed in him," said principal Darlene Leiding.
It's hard for people at Oh Day Aki Charter School (Heart of the Earth) to know what to believe about the school's executive director.
"It kind of made me feel bad. I put a lot of faith and trust in him," said board of directors treasurer John Smith.
"We don't know if that trust has been violated. It appears that it has," Leiding said.
Investigators said Pourier violated that trust by stealing the school's money. Court papers say he spent it on gas for his car, plane tickets and to pay off his credit card.
"No, I did not take it for my personal use. I paid for certain things through the school, which at times I always got reimbursed for it," said executive director Pourier.
And he says he can prove it.
"I do have documentation," said Pourier.
"Can we see it?" asked WCCO reporter Darcy Pohland.
"The documentation that I have right here is not that," he said, pointing to a stack of documents.
Pourier failed to provide that documentation to state and federal authorities as well. That prevented the school from getting $78,000 in additional funding, and forced authorities to perform an audit, which found the more than $160,000 unaccounted for.
"The audit was filed late because we were in the middle of a transition moving from building to building," said Pourier.
He said moving from the school's old building to a new building was his top priority. But because he never accounted for the missing funds, the school may not need them now.
"I would feel that I was the one responsible if the school shuts down," he said.
Next Tuesday the Minneapolis School Board will vote on a recommendation to end their sponsorship of Heart of the Earth. If they do end it, the school will no longer exist.
The K through 12 school has 300 students most of them Native Americans. Everyone connected to the school is devastated. Teachers say there's a very special bond between them and their students, unlike any other school they've worked in.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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