Gateway board member wants reimbursed, district says she didn't follow protocol

A Gateway school director is in hot water after asking the district to reimburse her $8,600 she says she spent purchasing food for a district backpack program.

School board member Val Warning spent $8,671 on food purchased between September and January to provide for the Gateway Backpack Program at University Park Elementary.

The program provides children who qualify for the free and reduced meal program with a backpack to take home Friday full of breakfast and lunch for Saturday and Sunday.

Warning said she understands concerns that she should not be reimbursed for spending taxpayer money without board approval.

“However, I would like to point out that funds spent on this backpack program are not taxpayers’ dollars,” she said, reading from a statement during a March 10 agenda-setting meeting.

Since its April 2019 start, the program has received around $23,000 in donations from organizations and individuals.

“Donations that have been received are to be used for the program, which means no taxpayer dollars are used … I just want to emphasize that these funds are generous donations and not taxpayer dollars,” Warning said.

Legally, though, Warning is wrong, according to Bruce Dice, district solicitor.

“(Donations are) in the general fund, which is co-mingled with taxpayer money. It’s not separated. When a donation is made, it becomes the property of Gateway School District,” he said.

Business Manager Paul Schott said the district has received a total of $23,252 in donations for the program. To date, nothing has been spent on the program with that money, Schott said.

The reason for that is because there is a protocol for any district expenditures. Schott said all purchases are initiated through the business office. For most expenses, the district uses a purchase order system. If a vendor does not accept purchase orders, the district has a credit card to use. All receipts are then turned in to the business office, Scott said.

The process Schott outlined was not followed for Warning’s purchases, he said. Furthermore, the program’s supervisor, Jennifer Hoffner, told Schott she did not authorize anyone to make purchases on behalf of the district.

Schott said he received receipts from Warning amounting to the majority of the $8,600 in December. When he saw the receipts, he said he told Warning to stop making those purchases and that a district employee would need to make those.

But Warning continued, Schott said.

According to Pennsylvania School Code, school directors can be reimbursed for expenses incurred for traveling to board-related conferences or meetings.

“Based on a plain reading of the school code, you can only give to board members for those reasons … the problem is it doesn’t fit within the school code of one of the reasons why you can reimburse a board member,” Dice said.

Warning deferring questions to Hoffner after the meeting.

Hoffner did not respond to an email seeking comment.

This is not the first time Warning’s actions has stirred up controversy.

In August 2018, the school director withdrew an application to work in Gateway as a school aide after fellow board members saw it as a conflict of interest. The board then revised a district policy, making it against the rules for board members to work as subcontractors within the district.

In July, the school board passed two resolutions condemning Warning’s actions, specifically, for “interference and intermeddling with the day-to-day operations” of the school district and for “disseminating and divulging executive session materials and subject matter.”

As part of July’s condemnation, Warning was removed from her role on all subcommittees. She was still permitted to serve as the liaison for the district’s Sunrise School. Those restrictions have since been lifted.

The board will vote on whether to reimburse Warning during its regular meeting on March 17.