This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
12/03/2018 11:00 PMThe town’s preschool/before- and after-school program, Little Jackets, will continue with no interruption in service, town officials say, even though a forensic analysis by the town uncovered a series of issues and the program’s director has been fired.
“We are committed to continuing to service the needs of East Haven families and providing high quality before and after school and preschool care,” district officials said in a statement.
The early results of a forensic analysis requested by the Board of Education (BOE) in December 2017, to investigate $918,000 of overspending in the overall BOE’s 2015-’16 budget, found a wide range of issues, town official say, including a shortfall of $31,736 in the Little Jackets program over a two-year period. WTNH-TV has reported that the program is the subject of an FBI investigation, but that could not be independently confirmed.
Following the Nov. 8 firing of former Little Jackets director Cathy Finkle, Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti and BOE Chair Michele DeLucia told the Courier the program will be managed by the office of curriculum and instruction and will experience no interruption in service.
The school district plans to use the situation as an opportunity to survey parents and staff involved with the program to assess their needs and provide operational oversight.
“Once we have a better understanding of these needs, we will develop a plan for the next few years including an organizational chart that reflects the personnel structure,” the statement said. “The program is important to the community and valued by the district.”
This disruption to the Little Jackets program was triggered when the forensic accounting investigation performed by Forensic Accounting Services, LLC, at the request of the BOE revealed a shortfall of $31,736 from the Little Jackets program, a pre-school run at the time by Finkle.
Finkle was fired by the BOE on Nov. 8, according to a letter from Forti. Forti and DeLucia declined to comment on the firing.
Finkle and her husband, John Finkle, who serves on the BOE, did not respond to phone and email requests for comment.
In the letter, Forti cited several incidents of “poor judgment” on Cathy Finkle’s part.
“The forensic accountants found that, under your leadership, a shortfall of $31,736 existed in a two-year period between payments received and deposits made,” Forti said in her letter. “You could not explain this shortfall.”
Forti also cited the fact that Finkle had filled in timesheets and forged signatures for her daughters, who also worked for the Little Jackets program, in her firing.
“These actions, which directly benefited your daughters, violated policies and protocols that you claimed to follow and enforce,” Forti said. “In one fiscal year, you completed your daughters’ timesheets in the vast majority of pay periods.”
According to Forti’s letter, Finkle had also allowed the Sam’s Club card given to her for use in the Little Jackets program to be used for personal purchases.
Forti also suggested that Finkle’s actions “permitted [the card] to be stolen three times by the same individual.”
Asked for comment on the FBI investigation into the matter, Thomas Carson, spokesman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment.