Elmhurst Schools On Guard For Irregularities: Official

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 is now watching credit card transactions as they are occurring, an official said this week.

This is in response to a scandal in which a supervisor spent $50,000 on his school credit card for things such as alcohol, cigars, meals, country club outings, airfare, and his daughter's sorority fees.

At a finance committee meeting, Joe Blomquist, assistant superintendent of finance, presented the changes in credit card procedures.

No one specifically mentioned the previous scandal, other than a reference to a "complicated situation."

Blomquist said the district is basing its issuance of credit cards on need, not tradition.

And he said his office has spoken to every credit card holder about the rules, from the superintendent on down. Every holder must sign an agreement showing they understand the expectations.

"We can oversee all of our credit card transactions as they are occurring," Blomquist said. "We can review them on an ongoing basis and identify anything that might not be appropriate or might have questions surrounding it."

Under the new system, employees can avoid the monthly scramble for receipts when the district receives its credit card statement, he said. They can upload the receipts after transactions.

Board member Courtenae Trautmann noted auditors recommended a "more robust" system for tracking credit card use.

"Clear procedures are in place to identify irregularities, and I think that prevents us from being in a complicated situation again," she said.

Athena Arvanitis, the school board's president, said while Blomquist was presenting the changes now, they took effect last year.

"It's producing a higher level of oversight," she said.

In December 2024, Patch reported on Facilities Director Todd Schmidt's misuse of his credit card. He typically paid back the personal items each month, but sometimes waited a lot longer, according to the district.

The irregularities came to light in the weeks after Rockford police arrested Schmidt on felony charges, accusing him of stealing from his mother.

His supervisor was Blomquist's predecessor, Christopher Whelton, who departed with a severance agreement a couple of months later.

In response to Patch's request in January, the school district declined to release its internal December 2024 report on Schmidt's spending.

A month later, Elmhurst police divulged it after Patch's request. That prompted the district to release it with even fewer redactions than the police's version.

According to the report, Whelton knew about the misspending and yelled at Schmidt about it. Then it happened again, the report states.

Schmidt, who was never disciplined for the problem, resigned shortly after his arrest.

At this week's meeting, Blomquist said the latest credit card statement consisted of 292 transactions. He said he reviewed every single one.

"I think this is such a high priority," he said. "I do take personal responsibility that this is handled appropriately."