Undisclosed Nepotism Creates Firestorm For Gary School Board

Nepotism is the lastest charge against a controversial Gary School Board member who is best known for taking a trip to Japan -- $3,144 is still owed to Gary schools -- using Gary school funds.

Gary School Board members say they weren't told that they were hiring Gary School Board member Andrea Ledbetter's husband for a lucrative $30 per hour position with the school, reports Sharlonda L. Waterhouse in today's Post Tribune. News reports say the non-disclosure of the conflict of interest is contrary to state law regarding school hirings of relatives.

The Gary School Board hired the husband of one of its members for a job Tuesday without receiving a disclosure of the relationship as required by law.

The board voted to hire James Woodson, husband of Andrea Ledbetter, as a temporary Teamster at a salary of $30 an hour.

Ledbetter abstained from the vote, but did not acknowledge the marital relationship or that she would financially benefit from the employment during a discussion Tuesday.

Board members Debra Crawford and Darren Washington said after the meeting they were not aware they were hiring Ledbetter's husband.

"I don't know. I'm trying to find that out myself," said Crawford, head of the personnel committee.

Washington said he doesn't believe the hire was proposed to the committee as is custom, but simply showed up on the meeting agenda.

"That is wrong," Washington said. "There's no abstaining. If she knew it was her husband she should have revealed a conflict of interest."

Non-disclosure before board action violates the Indiana law, according to attorneys for the Indiana School Boards Association and the State Board of Accounts.

"Before the contract is entered into, the party must disclose the conflict of interest and the School Board must approve it at a public meeting prior to the action," said David J. Emmert, attorney for the ISBA.

The news comes not too long after a nearby school superintendent -- Michael Livovich of Hanover Community Schools -- wrote a scathing opinion piece in the Northwest Indiana Times stating:

My blood boils, however, when I see the apparent mismanagement of the schools.

The case that turned my skin blue was when a board member traveled to Japan (funded by the corporation) to visit schools because she stated "there were no schools worthy of visiting here." To their west is Hammond. South, there is Munster, Merrillville, Crown Point and many other school districts. I would even have welcomed a partnership with Gary here at Hanover for we are doing the job, as are all others with less money -- certainly less federal money! My community, as would my peers in other communities, would welcome the challenge.

No schools worthy here? She had another agenda, and it was not about kids!

But the whole thing makes me angrier than I can comprehend. When I heard the state was silent, I said the state has abandoned these kids. Although I would feel more comfort remaining silent, I simply could not -- not any longer!

There have been so many other examples of blatant misuse of funds, and who has been hurt? The kids and the staff, and there are many who desperately need to be lead by strong educators with ethics and morality.

The kids of Gary deserve the best we have. If the state is threatening to take the system over, what more data do they need? How much harm has to be inflicted on these kids -- kids who are just as deserved of the safe, loving educational environment provided by all the other schools in Lake and Porter counties.

The only way for Gary, Indiana to arise from the ashes of its failed dreams is to provide all of its citizens' children an excellent public education. While many are working hard to build up Gary, Indiana, it only takes a few focusing on their own personal self-enrichment to the detriment of those they are supposed to serve to give the whole community a bad reputation.

Gary Public Schools Northwest Indiana education urban issues