In the media

State auditors report fraud, misappropriation of funds, assets, and other illegal fiscal practices under the El Rancho Unified School District’s bond program. Between from May 2015 and February 2019, investigators say there were two problems in the way the district hired contractors: the Board of Education was overinvolved and the public under-informed, and the hiring process lacked transparency and was tinged with corruption.

The Livingston High School Academy fired a lead teacher and a principal had resigned after allegations of cheating and fraud. A recent audit revealed admission and academic policy violations. The accused teacher cultivated academic dishonesty in her classroom by providing binders with test questions and answers for students to use when completing assignments and examinations.

A former finance clerk is accused of embezzling $859,000 in funds that belonged to Esperanza High School’s student council. State auditors allegedly identified 270 checks made payable to the former finance clerk who oversaw the books while others were for two of the clerk’s relatives. According to the State auditors' bank records from 2005 to 2011, the total amount of embezzled funds is more than $1.5 million.

A prominent Antarctic geologist has been accused of sexual harassment by two of his former students during research expeditions. In the online survey published in PLOS ONE and covered by Science in 2014, 71% of 512 female respondents reported being sexually harassed during fieldwork; 84% of them were trainees.

Action News Jax Investigates has obtained an operations audit of the Clay County School District completed by Florida's Auditor General. The 31-page report included the district’s direct responses to the state’s findings and recommendations. In one of the 13 listed findings, the report states the district disbursed a total of $31,200 in ‘"Florida Best and Brightest Scholarship Program" awards to 22 prekindergarten teachers. Auditors found those teachers did not meet the statutory definition of a “classroom teacher,” and were not eligible for the awards.