Board Member Earns $24,000 from TRSD

Do you think it is appropriate for school board members to have occasional work from the district they are charged with overseeing?

Tonight your school board will be talking about “Conflicts of Interest.”  Thanks to Right to Know information I received today (and paid $2.50 for), I will be bringing some rare facts to the table.

Back on August 17,  I asked for “Check vouchers showing payments to Kelly Ward, Ward Fabrication, and all entities associated with Kelly Ward for the fiscal year 16/17 from either SAU 55 or Timberlane Regional School District.”  Kelly Ward is a Sandown representative to the Timberlane Regional School District.

Today I received the individual invoice summaries as well as a “Vendor Invoice History” for Ward Fabrication for 16/17.  These documents showed eight checks issued to Mr. Ward, totaling $23,877.25.  Of that amount, $18,616 was for “Fabrication for 8 frames for 4 batting cages.”  There was no mention of materials, though some of this could be for material cost. You may recall that the batting cage work was awarded to Mr. Ward in the spring by a 7-1 vote of the previous board.  (I was the sole vote against it on grounds of conflict of interest.) The board has not been told the final cost of the project but the board rejected a motion I made to cap the cost at $30,000.

One voucher for $200 was for “Engineered drawings for batting cage project.”  That check was issued on Nov. 30, 2016.

Additional projects included:

• welding a dishwasher for $735;
• repairing field hockey goals  $1,041.25
• welding a drum  $132.50
• welding repair to plow frame  152.50
• a steel rail for HS ADA ramp $3,000

The Vendor Invoice History is here: Kelly Ward’s income from TRSD

I did not obtain copies of the individual vouchers at 50 cents a page, but anyone is free to go into the SAU to inspect them.

 

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