Hickman Mills School District dealing with state audit, uncertain budget
The Hickman Mills School District is now launching its own internal investigation into potential misuse of taxpayer funds as Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said his initial findings should make taxpayers “really upset.”In two weeks as the interim superintendent, Dr. Dennis Carpenter has already tried to rein in the chance of school funds being misused.“In 14 days, we’ve gone from 47 credit cards in the district, I believe, down to about three,” Carpenter said.On Thursday, State Auditor Fitzpatrick announced a full audit would be conducted into the Hickman Mills School District. His office’s initial investigation from a whistleblower complaint turned up evidence of misused taxpayer money.One red flag was a school-funded trip to Ghana. Fitzpatrick said the country is the home of former Hickman Mills Superintendent Yah Obeng. Obeng was on the trip, which included other school officials and a few students.Fitzpatrick said the trip to Ghana cost around $60,000.“I’m sure the superintendent loves to go home and to, you know, where he is from, but that’s not an appropriate use of district resources and taxpayer funds,” Fitzpatrick said.Fitzpatrick says the investigation also found evidence of personal purchases from Apple and YouTube TV services on school credit cards.There is also the question of a $1.4 million fee the district had to pay for terminating a technology contract.“That’s a seven-figure expenditure of taxpayer funds,” Fitzpatrick said. “And we’re going to look into why did they make the decision to enter that contract in the first place.”The audit will now do a deeper dive into the finances of the school district, with a possibility of finding more misused funds.“When they’re spending $1.4 million terminating a district IT contract and $60,000 going to Ghana, when you have a provisionally accredited school district,” Fitzpatrick said. “If I was a taxpayer in that district I would be really upset by that. So, we’re going to come in, we’re going to report the facts, we will be unbiased.”In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Interim Superintendent Carpenter said they welcome the audit and will cooperate every step of the way.“I’m committed to ensuring fiscal responsibility and providing a factual account of what may have gone wrong and there should be no exception when it comes to accountability,” Carpenter said.Carpenter added they’re in the process of hiring an outside firm to complete an internal investigation. Carpenter said he wants to get results of an investigation as soon as possible to start making changes.In addition to dealing with the state audit, Carpenter said the school budget is much more strained than what the school board was made aware of in May.During the Hickman Mills School Board meeting Thursday night, Carpenter, with the addition of an outside expert from Missouri Capital Asset Advantage Treasury, laid out the confusion around the budget and what appeared to mislead the school board.According to the duo, the budget presented in May, and budgets in years past, included and relied on stimulus funds from the government. However, those stimulus funds are now running dry. When you stop accounting for those funds in the budget, the school district could be in danger of running a deficit. You can find the entire presentation on the school district’s website.“A superintendent with a trained eye has to be able to look at that and say, ‘That’s going to go away, that’s not a true representation of our fund balance. Let’s start operating like it’s going away,’” Carpenter said. “And that’s what it looks like did not happen.”At the board meeting, the Hickman Mills School Board approved a revised preliminary budget for the 2025-26 school year.
The Hickman Mills School District is now launching its own internal investigation into potential misuse of taxpayer funds as Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said his initial findings should make taxpayers “really upset.”
In two weeks as the interim superintendent, Dr. Dennis Carpenter has already tried to rein in the chance of school funds being misused.
“In 14 days, we’ve gone from 47 credit cards in the district, I believe, down to about three,” Carpenter said.
On Thursday, State Auditor Fitzpatrick announced a full audit would be conducted into the Hickman Mills School District. His office’s initial investigation from a whistleblower complaint turned up evidence of misused taxpayer money.
One red flag was a school-funded trip to Ghana. Fitzpatrick said the country is the home of former Hickman Mills Superintendent Yah Obeng. Obeng was on the trip, which included other school officials and a few students.
Fitzpatrick said the trip to Ghana cost around $60,000.
“I’m sure the superintendent loves to go home and to, you know, where he is from, but that’s not an appropriate use of district resources and taxpayer funds,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick says the investigation also found evidence of personal purchases from Apple and YouTube TV services on school credit cards.
There is also the question of a $1.4 million fee the district had to pay for terminating a technology contract.
“That’s a seven-figure expenditure of taxpayer funds,” Fitzpatrick said. “And we’re going to look into why did they make the decision to enter that contract in the first place.”
The audit will now do a deeper dive into the finances of the school district, with a possibility of finding more misused funds.
“When they’re spending $1.4 million terminating a district IT contract and $60,000 going to Ghana, when you have a provisionally accredited school district,” Fitzpatrick said. “If I was a taxpayer in that district I would be really upset by that. So, we’re going to come in, we’re going to report the facts, we will be unbiased.”
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Interim Superintendent Carpenter said they welcome the audit and will cooperate every step of the way.
“I’m committed to ensuring fiscal responsibility and providing a factual account of what may have gone wrong and there should be no exception when it comes to accountability,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter added they’re in the process of hiring an outside firm to complete an internal investigation. Carpenter said he wants to get results of an investigation as soon as possible to start making changes.
In addition to dealing with the state audit, Carpenter said the school budget is much more strained than what the school board was made aware of in May.
During the Hickman Mills School Board meeting Thursday night, Carpenter, with the addition of an outside expert from Missouri Capital Asset Advantage Treasury, laid out the confusion around the budget and what appeared to mislead the school board.
According to the duo, the budget presented in May, and budgets in years past, included and relied on stimulus funds from the government. However, those stimulus funds are now running dry. When you stop accounting for those funds in the budget, the school district could be in danger of running a deficit. You can find the entire presentation on the school district’s website.
“A superintendent with a trained eye has to be able to look at that and say, ‘That’s going to go away, that’s not a true representation of our fund balance. Let’s start operating like it’s going away,’” Carpenter said. “And that’s what it looks like did not happen.”
At the board meeting, the Hickman Mills School Board approved a revised preliminary budget for the 2025-26 school year.
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