Education Matters US

A question of necessity
Grayslake High superintendent concerned about past activity fund spending, considering probe

By Bob Susnjara
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Monday, December 12, 2005

Grayslake Community High School Superintendent Catherine Finger said an independent investigation might be needed to examine questionable activity fund spending in past academic years.

Finger said she was unaware of some iffy activity fund expenditures until they were brought to her attention by the Daily Herald last week. She said her “high level of concern” has made her consider seeking an outside expert to review spending in District 127.

“As a new superintendent, I look at this and see the level of items both that were not approved and the items that were approved in the past that I think are not appropriate,” Finger said.

If Grayslake District 127 pursues a scouring of its activity funds, the action would be similar to what occurred a year ago at neighboring Warren Township High School in Gurnee. A probe by Lake County prosecutors followed a Warren special investigator’s report.

Ex-Warren District 121 Principal Philip Roffman recently was indicted on a felony theft charge alleging he misused $400 in activity fund money on theater tickets. Prosecutors said he is expected to plead guilty Thursday as part of a negotiated deal.

Some of the questionable expenses at Grayslake High in past academic years came from the girls basketball student activity account, according to school documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Many of the expenses in the girls hoops account and others lack detailed justification.

Under state law, student activity accounts are supposed to be used by a school organizations and clubs for educational, recreational or cultural purposes. Convenience account spending by adult school employees — drawn from activity funds — is supposed to have a student connection, such as pizzas for a sports team.

District documents state the girls basketball account was placed under direct supervision of Athletic Director David Perkins in February “due to the inappropriate use of funds” by former coach Michael Hirsch, who also was a driver education teacher. He isn’t accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

A copy of a check attached to school documents indicates Hirsch repaid Grayslake High for a $100 Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World gift card he bought with activity fund money for a former girls basketball assistant coach who is a district teacher.

Moreover, Grayslake High records show Hirsch repaid $33 he received in public money to cover a bill from Hooters near O’Hare International Airport. The Hooters tab and gift card were paid by the school in July 2004. Documents didn’t provide detailed justification for the expenditures.

One bill submitted by Hirsch that District 127 refused to pay would have had public money cover an evening of alcohol and food at Buffalo Wild Wings in Round Lake Beach. School documents show Hirsch sought a $184 reimbursement for a “coaches dinner/meeting” that he wrote involved the girls basketball staff in January.

The paperwork submitted by Hirsch also listed the name of a girls basketball student manager who purportedly was at the Buffalo Wild Wings gathering where whiskey, beer, shrimp, fish, chicken and a couple of soft drinks were consumed.

Finger said she is troubled the documents indicate current and former Grayslake High faculty members could have been with a student at a function involving alcohol. She said administrators need to question the current high school teachers who reportedly were at Buffalo Wild Wings.

“That’s in violation of everything we stand for. It just is,” Finger said.

Hirsch, 32, declined to comment and referred calls to his attorney, Joel Handler. Hirsch, who joined Grayslake High in 2002, led the girls basketball team to its first trip to the state tournament in 2004.

Now an assistant boys basketball coach and driver education instructor at Zion-Benton Township High School, Hirsch was fired from District 127 in February. He coached the men’s basketball team at Harper College in Palatine before resigning in the middle of the academic year in January 2000.

Hirsch has filed a defamation lawsuit against Grayslake High’s Lake Street campus Principal Randy Davis, two parents and two girls who played for him, contending they caused his firing.

Court documents state Davis wrongly accused Hirsch of trying to misuse $22 in girls basketball money for pizzas delivered to his Lindenhurst house in November 2004. Grayslake High isn’t named in the suit, which Handler declined to discuss.

“I would not be doing a service to my client by going around and giving theories about my case,” Handler said.

Tighter controls over activity fund spending are now in place at District 127. The changes became effective at the beginning of the current academic year.

Michael Zelek, the district’s associate superintendent for business affairs, said sports coaches and others who use activity funds now must receive advance approval for expenses.

Activity fund expenses that no longer are allowed include meals and refreshments for coaches meetings, clothing for people not connected to Grayslake High teams, and athletic tournaments outside regularly scheduled games. Gift cards for pupils must have proper documentation and prior approval.

Zelek said employees also no longer can seek reimbursement after ordering equipment or supplies for District 127 and having it delivered to their homes.

Ex-football coach Vito Andriola Jr. was issued a $2,932 activity fund check after purchasing a camcorder, digital VCR and equipment box shipped to his West Dundee house in August 2002. Grayslake High has the electronics.

Andriola, who was dismissed from District 127 in February, now is a driver education teacher at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview. He said he used his credit card to buy the video equipment and then sought the reimbursement from Grayslake High.

“It’s quicker to have it done that way,” Andriola said.

Some employees didn’t immediately understand the need for a stricter activity fund spending policy at District 127 when it was explained before school started, Zelek said.

“We had coaches and sponsors who were used to the old way of doing things,” he said. “They felt it was an extra step. But, again, it’s to protect them. It’s to protect the district.

“It’s also putting the controls in place to make sure the expenditures are appropriate.”

Zelek said a Pepsi contract and fund-raisers generate $350,000 to $400,000 in annual revenue that’s spread throughout Grayslake High’s activity funds.

District 127 board President Russ Hager declined to comment on the activity fund spending.