Burlington Middle School Administrator Tries To Explain Spending

BURLINGTON, MA -- Marshall Simonds Middle School Support Coordinator Neil Lusas submitted eight pages of written responses to questions that were submitted by Burlington Town Meeting members in an attempt to explain spending irregularities in the principal's account for the school. The irregularities were first reported by Burlington Patch in February and were based on a review of bank statements, canceled checks and receipts from the account.

The five elected members of the Burlington School Committee have not directly addressed middle school spending in its meetings where they have discussed questions about spending in other accounts. Lusas and Burlington Superintendent Eric Conti have not responded to a request for comment. Last fall, Lusas, along with Principal Richard Connors and Team Leader Noreen Abati, announced they would be retiring at the end of the school year after 40 years in the district.

The biggest revelation in the response by Lusas and School Finance Director Rob Cunha may have been that the account was not opened under the town's tax identification number when it was set up in 2006. The account was opened by Connors using his own social security number with few limitations as long as a receipt reflects the amount requested. Additionally, the account did not require two signers for checks.

That explains how Lusas was able to write checks totaling thousands of dollars payable to himself or to cash. In his written response, Lusas said checks written to cash were to repay staff members who had bought raffle prizes and presented receipts for those prizes. His response did not make clear why he did not make those checks payable to the staff members who had made the purchases.

Lusas said when he wrote checks to himself it was either to reimburse himself for items he purchased for students, or when he used his personal debit card to make purchases. "Receipts were always saved," Lusas said.

One of the items raised in the original Patch article was a check Lusas write on May 2, 2017 from the school's administrative account to Nathalia A. Lusas for $644.83. Lusas presented a receipt from Shaw's on March 9, 2018 to justify the expense that showed a purchase of items for a staff appreciation luncheon that included more than 90 pounds of steak tips. The documentation does not, however, explain why the check was written for the exact amount and dated two days before the date on the receipt.

In his written responses to town meeting members who have been critical of school financial operations, Lusas conceded that a check he wrote to cash for $19,275 on March 4, 2017 was not related to student activities. Two days after that check was written, a cashiers check payable to the MIAA was issued. A note on the check said it was for ticket revenue from an ice hockey tournament. Lusas said he deposited cash that was collected from selling tickets for a hockey tournament into the account then withdrew the money to reimburse the MIAA.

Lusas also said the hundreds of dollars he spent on buying coffee for a Keurig coffee machine was not for employees but for parents and custodial staff. "There is no free coffee for regular staff during the day, except when they have after school workshops or meetings," Lusas wrote.

Many of the expenditures for candy, pastries and other food were for regular brunches the staff has for students. The snacks are then sold to students for $1.50 to $1.75 per item, Lusas said, but students have the option of participating without purchasing food from the school. Lusas defended the purchases made for brunches, where staff can "promote our school culture, address important issues and assure citizenship and respect for others."

The scrutiny of middle school spending comes as the school system faces questions on many of its policies and procedures for financial oversight. Late last month the school committee received a review of the performing arts revolving account that showed Burlington Music Director John Middleton Coxfailed to account for at least $8,000 in cash that was kept in an unauthorized account.

That review by Town Auditor Jim Powers was a "deeper dive" into the music revolving account that was reviewed by Roselli, Clark & Associates last year after going from a $40,000 surplus to a $50,000 deficit over the course of three fiscal years. Roselli said it was unable to do a complete audit because it was not given a complete set of records, but still produced a report that raised questions about how the account was maintained and questioned the district's policies.

More on this story:

• Administrator Used School Account To Write Check To Relative (2/23/2017)
• Burlington Middle School Spent Thousands Of Dollars On Junk Food (2/24/2017)

Subscribe to Burlington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).