Erwin apparently loves legal fees

Lawyers' fees eat into school districts' budgets

The Herald-Leader reports concerns over local district legal fees eating their way into the instructional budget. But they ain't seen nothing yet.

Clinton County, a tiny rural school district on the Tennessee line with fewer than 2,000 students, many of whom struggle academically, spent $141,000 on attorneys' fees over the past three years.

The reason: Three lawsuits were filed against former Superintendent Sam Gibson. That was well after the school board's internal investigation found that Gibson misused a district cell phone and forged a hotel receipt, allegedly to hide an affair with a district secretary. He was later indicted, and he resigned.

In an analysis of attorneys' fees spent by school districts throughout the state, the Herald-Leader found that many of the biggest spenders are a handful of districts that also suffer from academic underperformance. (Although Clinton County's test scores have improved in recent years, for example, they are still nearly 30 points away from the state goal of 100 by 2014.)

Many of the fees paid are to monitor and mediate adult spats that aren't covered by insurance. That means legal fees come out of districts' general fund, the same pot of money that pays for teachers, computers and programs for students. It's a pot that many educators see as getting smaller and smaller each year.

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If expansive legal fees are today's topic - then how might our new commish view such lavish spending on adult issues? ERWIN APPARENTLY LOVES LEGAL FEES!

A February 2, 2006 editorial in the Arizona Republic…touts the accomplishments of Erwin’s successor in Scottsdale saying, “The district has significantly improved during his short tenure.” “…[board members] insisted on receiving a monthly financial report. Before that, the board had no financial information except the annual budget forms.”

The new superintendent and others, “pushed the board to end the district's use of contracted legal services and hired and in-house attorney. The district's once exorbitant legal fees, which topped $650,000 in former Superintendent Barbara Erwin's last year, are now less than $200,000 annually.”