Ozark City Schools CFO resigns

September 10, 2009

By Ebony Horton

Ozark City Schools was without a chief financial officer on Thursday after the abrupt resignation of one on Wednesday, according to officials.

City School Board members approved the immediate resignation of Monica Foote and the request for an audit by the state Public Examiners Office at an emergency called board meeting on Thursday. According to Schools Superintendent Michael Lenhart, Foote resigned after questioning on Wednesday concerning irregularities in school funds that involved a third-party security check.

While Lenhart said no money appeared to be missing from the school funds, Lenhart said Foote made no statement concerning the indescrepancies.

Lenhart said little more could be said about the ongoing investigation.

“I want it clear that no one is jumping to conclusions and at this moment we are not aware of any funds missing. There is no confirmed illegal act, (but) I do believe our internal measures as well as an audit give the public confidence that our control measures have worked,“ he said. “We’ve acted quickly to get whatever issues resolved while they have a minimum impact, if any.“

The state Department of Education would likely provide assistance in seeking another chief financial officer to assist in payroll and closing out last fiscal year’s budget, he said.

Foote was in the Ozark school system for around 14 years, he said.