Lynn Walsh

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Covering Elections: TrentTV | Aired August 24 via newmediatv.org
Tue Aug 24 12:50:00 2010 CST
By Lee Ann O’Neal
Texas Watchdog logo

View today’s TrentTV episode on covering elections below. Hosts Mark Lisheron and Jennifer Peebles chatted with our live audience about backgrounding candidates, in-depth profiles, and issues coverage.
Texas Watchdog’s Lynn Walsh, usually behind the camera producing the show, will host the next TrentTV, a live discussion of watchdog stories on schools to air at 11:30 a.m. CST Sept. 28.

newmediatvorg on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

What’s for lunch at HISD, and who’s chewing on it?
Mon Aug 23 13:53:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

As students in the Houston Independent School District head back to class this week new items will be dished out on their school lunch trays.
An article in the Houston Chronicle Sunday detailed some of the new items students may choose for lunch:

“Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches. Old favorites, such as chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, remain on most menus but have been overhauled to be healthier.”

The nutritional value of the food HISD serves students is not a new issue. HISD trustees regularly discuss food nutrition values at board meetings.

Trustee Anna Eastman has pushed Aramark, the food service company HISD has contracted this year for $5.8 million, to improve food nutritional values and make more food from scratch.

“You guys are looking at making your own yogurt next year, and it would be nice if we did not have the Trix yogurt anymore. Trix are for kids, but it is also sugary,” Eastman said at a board workshop meeting in May.

Earlier in the year, while an expanded breakfast program was being implemented at schools across the district, the debate over healthy food continued.

Eastman again encouraged Aramark to make more food from scratch. View her comments in the clip below.

The debate over healthy food in HISD has not been confined to board meetings and trustee conversations. Two blogs, First Class Breakfast? and The Lunch Tray weigh in on the food being served to HISD students.

First Class Breakfast? provides a history of the expanded breakfast program and pictures of what students are eating for breakfast at schools in HISD. The Lunch Tray, linked today by Off the Kuff and highlighted in the Chronicle story, looks at the nutritional value of school lunches across the country while using the Houston Independent School District as an example in many blog posts.

The debate over nutritional food options in HISD does not seem to be ceasing anytime soon. We want to know what you think. Are the new food options being offered enough?

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Project GRAD program — where HISD administrator moonlights as executive director — gets funding boost from HISD
Fri Aug 13 15:09:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Another high school in the Houston Independent School District will receive funding for a program to increase graduation rates after trustees approved more than $59,000 for the new program at a Thursday meeting.

Phillis Wheatley High School in northeast Houston will add Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Houston to its campus. According to the Project GRAD Houston website, the nonprofit is part of a national program that works to increase high school graduation and college attendance rates for low-income students. The national program grew “from a scholarship program which began in partnership with (the) Houston Independent School District in 1989.”

HISD trustees unanimously approved the $59,221 cost associated with the program for Wheatley bringing the total cost of Project GRAD Houston’s contract with the district to $1.9 million for the 2010-11 school year.

In June HISD trustees approved a renewal of the contract between the Houston district and Project GRAD Houston. The agreement for the coming school year includes work at three high schools — Jefferson Davis, John Reagan and Jack Yates — and five elementary schools, Thomas Jefferson, James Ketelsen, Adele Looscan, Clemente Martinez and Sidney Sherman.
graduation caps

Texas Watchdog reported earlier that HISD administrator Ann Stiles had been working full-time for HISD’s Project GRAD program. She earned more than $67,000 a year from HISD while also serving as the executive director for the nonprofit, earning $120,201 in 2008, according to IRS documents. The total paycheck for the two jobs comes to more than $187,000 annually.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier revealed Stiles’ moonlighting Monday to trustees and the public at a board meeting.

“I want to bring it to the board’s attention as it is probably an ethical issue that should be discussed,” Grier, who took over as the school system chief last September, told the group. He didn’t elaborate.

Stiles’ letter of resignation from HISD is dated Aug. 2. The reason for the resignation, according to the document, is “other employment.” Stiles did not return a call left Wednesday at Project GRAD’s office.

“There does not appear to be a violation of any policy,” and the district knew about her moonlighting, HISD spokesman Norm Uhl said by e-mail. “I just don’t think the question of the possible appearance of a conflict had been asked until now.”

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Owner of company implicated in HISD E-Rate ethics probe denies giving gifts to employees
Fri Aug 13 14:22:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Cell phones, playoff sporting tickets, trinkets and thousands of dollars in personal checks — all allegedly given to Houston Independent School District employees by federal technology program vendors that had a multi-million dollar contract with the Houston district — but the owner of one company says he had nothing to do with it.

Frank Trifilio, head of the now-defunct Analytical Computer Services, said he and his company never gave gifts to HISD employees, beyond an occasional fast-food lunch, and sought to distance himself from one-time business partners in an interview with Texas Watchdog. Trifilio, of Houston, said HISD confused Analytical with his subcontractors in the federal E-Rate program and that his company was the scapegoat in an investigation that resulted in his being banned from doing business with the district.

From 2005 to 2008, Trifilio and his business partners allegedly showered gifts including cash, meals and fishing trips on employees managing E-Rate, an HISD memo detailed by Texas Watchdog last month. Analytical provided $45 million in technology services between July 2005 and June 2009, a district contracts database shows. A federal lawsuit stemming from the improper gifts was settled by the district this year, and HISD has strengthened its ethics policy for E-Rate employees and board members.

Trifilio said he’s also suffered consequences.

“I lost everything, including my family,” Trifilio said. “I went through all of my savings just to get lawyers in Washington to defend me. I had to lay off 200 employees because the company went bankrupt.”
present

Trifilio said ACS, which was the umbrella organization for other technology vendors also implicated in the ethics probe, stopped operating in January 2007.

Analytical Computer Services “gave cellphones to approximately 26 district employees at one time or another from approximately August 2002 to February 2007,” according to the district memo penned by an outside law firm for HISD.

“I never provided phones for anyone at HISD,” Trifilio said. When asked if it is possible that one of his 200 employees could have, he expressed disbelief: “No, I sign off on all of the bills. I would have seen something like that.”

Trifilio said HISD confused his company with subcontractors Acclaim Professional Services, owned by Larry Lehmann, and Micro Systems Enterprises, where Frankie Wong was president. Wong is in prison for his role in a bribery scandal involving the Dallas Independent School District.

“We were the scapegoat” in the controversy because of confusion over vendor identification numbers, Trifilio said. Micro Systems and Acclaim took on some of the contracted work because the district believed the volume was too much for one company to handle, Trifilio said.

“In the E-Rate program, you cannot split up vendor numbers for projects, so HISD put in my SPIN number and my name,” he said. “Our number was being used, but we were not doing the business.”

E-Rate obtain the numbers from the Universal Service Administrative Company, which under the direction of the FCC administers the E-Rate program, said Richard Patton, HISD’s E-Rate compliance official. Patton said he was not aware of any limitations on the vendor ID numbers like what Trifilio described.

“I became the umbrella organization because ACS was the only company with a SPIN number,” Trifilio said. “We (Micro Systems) were archenemies. The relationship was nothing but a title.”

Professional basketball suite tickets appear to be the most valuable of the gifts that HISD lawyers found came from Trifilio’s company. Then-Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra “and a guest attended three Houston Rockets playoff games in the Analytical Computer Services Inc. (‘ACS’) suite in 2005,” apparently NBA playoff games 3, 4 and 6 against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs’ first round.

In an earlier interview with Texas Watchdog, Saavedra said he was invited to the games by HISD trustees, took his wife, but didn’t realize it was a vendor’s suite. He said he subsequently sent Trifilio a check for $300 to cover the costs.

Trifilio said he cashed the check, which was accompanied by “a very nice letter.”

Trifilio said the suite at the Toyota Center belonged to him and ACS but downplayed the appearance of a cozy relationship between his company and the district.

“The suites were mine,” Trifilio said. “Trustees were probably invited by a general manager. There were as many ACS employees there as there were board members.”

Other allegations outlined in the memorandum include gifts from ACS of fanny packs and koozies, or foamlike beverage containers, to HISD. Trifilio denies that ACS ever provided such items unless HISD employees picked them up at a convention.

Why would HISD employees and trustees attend a basketball game at an E-rate vendor’s suite?

Trifilio said the fact that board members were there is irrelevant because “the board members have zero influence in us getting any E-Rate contracts. The procurement is done on a lower level.” Board members vote on contracts or sign off on them after they are approved by district staff, depending on their value.

Trifilio said Analytical and district staff had a “camaraderie” with each other, which led to some district employees also attending games in the company suite.

“We had people (at HISD) all the time, at least eight people there, 40 hours a week,” Trifilio said. “They became friends with people over there. They had their own badges. They felt as if they were employees at HISD.”

Trifilio said when his company took HISD employees out to lunch, which he said happened a handful of times, the conversation was focused on current work.

“We didn’t talk about upcoming bids,” he said.

Former district technology employees William L. Edwards, Steve K. Kim and Laura M. Palmer were the primary recipients of the gifts and meals, the memo from HISD firm Bracewell & Guiliani said. Their names were closely guarded by the school district for years and were only released after a Texas Watchdog public information request that the district challenged to the attorney general’s office.

According to the memo, Edwards and Palmer accepted a ride on Wong’s fishing boat, the “Sir Veza” — the same name of a $305,000, 46-foot yacht connected to the E-Rate scandal in Dallas. Dallas ISD’s technology chief, Ruben B. Bohuchot, is in a federal prison in Fort Worth after being found guilty in the bribery and money laundering scheme.

Wong created a company to maintain the “Sir Veza,” according to the Justice Department.

“We worked together, but we hated each other with a passion,” Trifilio said, even though he mentioned he had taken his sons fishing on the boat. “We did north side, they did south side and that is that.”

Trifilio cooperated with the grand jury in the Dallas investigation, even though there was no information he could contribute, he said.

Trifilio said he had not talked to Lehmann. Texas Watchdog has attempted to contact Lehmann multiple times but has been unable to reach him.

Trifilio said he owns a rehab and renovation company.

“I am 65 years old, and I am cleaning toilets,” he said, adding that he works alone.

“No more subcontractors.”

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD says travel policy revisions still on track for start of school; timeframe won’t allow for required board approval
Thu Aug 12 16:40:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

While the Houston Independent School District has nearly doubled its payments to a local travel agency this year compared to 2009, a district official’s promise of a new district-wide travel policy by the start of the school year has not held true.

UPDATE (5:07 p.m.) But that official still maintains the revisions will be ready next week.

Poor planning, a preferences for costly direct flights, agency fees for flight bookings and a toothless travel policy have led to unnecessary costs for district travel, a Texas Watchdog investigation found.
Texas Watchdog has been asking HISD administrators and Superintendent Terry Grier about the high travel costs and sometimes disregard of the travel policy’s preference for driving short distances.

Grier has said the district would carefully look at “any issues you have with travel” and declined further comment. Responses from HISD administrators have generally been via prepared statements that leave some questions unanswered.

One thing HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett did tell Texas Watchdog in June is that a new policy would be in place by the start of this school year.

“As a result of the new organizational change and elimination of the regional offices, many policies and administrative regulations are being reviewed. This includes travel. The district will have updated travel guidelines ready for schools and departments prior to the start of school.”

The start of classes for some schools is Monday.

The August board meeting for HISD trustees is tonight, the last opportunity before the start of school for trustees to approve a new policy. The agenda contains no mention of such.

Texas Watchdog asked both Garrett and Grier’s Chief of Staff Michele Pola about the approval of the new policy. Neither has responded.

UPDATE (5:07 p.m.): Garrett said in an e-mail this afternoon that the district is still on track to update travel guidelines in its finance procedures manual for distribution next week. But it’s unclear how they can do so without board approval tonight. These “travel policies are established and approved by the Board of Education,” the document says.

The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 1800 W. 18th St.

Texas Watchdog will be there and will again ask about the status of a new travel policy.

Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates from the meeting tonight or search #HISD on Twitter.

Editor’s note: Texas Watchdog published a brief item about Garrett’s statement around 4:45 p.m. That item has been incorporated into the update paragraphs above.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Video: Lee High School’s $1 million repair project
Thu Aug 12 10:42:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Take a video tour inside Lee High School, where a library addition has settled and shifted away from the rest of the school. Houston Independent School District trustees gave the OK last month for up to $1 million in structural repairs, to be managed by Matrix Structural Engineers.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD employee double-dips with contractor to earn $187K a year; Grier: ‘Probably an ethical issue’
Wed Aug 11 05:03:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

A Houston Independent School District administrator has had a lucrative side job for at least three years — running an education nonprofit that has a nearly $2 million contract with HISD, something Superintendent Terry Grier says is “probably an ethical issue.”

Ann Stiles’ job at HISD in recent years has been overseeing the school system program coordinated by her own group, Project GRAD Houston, which tries to prevent low-income children in HISD from dropping out of school. Project GRAD has a $1.86 million contract with the Houston district, which school trustees renewed in June.

As HISD teacher specialist for Project GRAD, Stiles is a full-time HISD employee, earning a salary of $67,318 this year plus benefits, district spokesman Norm Uhl said.

But that’s not her only source of income. Stiles is also the executive director for Project GRAD Houston, where, according to the group’s IRS form, she earned $120,201 in 2008 and listed an average 40 hours of work per week. The total paycheck for the two jobs comes to more than $187,000 annually.

Stiles’ moonlighting was revealed Monday by Grier to school system trustees and the public. “I want to bring it to the board’s attention as it is probably an ethical issue that should be discussed,” Grier, who took over as the school system chief last September, told the group. He didn’t elaborate.

However, school officials had previously known of Stiles’ two jobs, Uhl said, though he did not elaborate on how long the district had known.

Asked whether an HISD employee is allowed to also work for a nonprofit that contracts with the district, Uhl said in an e-mail, “there does not appear to be a violation of any policy and it was known that she worked for the district. I just don’t think the question of the possible appearance of a conflict had been asked until now.”

Project GRAD Houston’s IRS form and its Web site list HISD Trustee Paula Harris as one of the group’s board members. Her name appears on the group’s IRS form on the same page as the one identifying Stiles as executive director. Harris and another HISD trustee, Anna Eastman, had questioned Grier about Stiles’ dual employment at the Monday meeting, but Harris did not volunteer publicly that she is a Project GRAD board member.

Stiles has submitted a resignation letter to the school district, effective Aug. 31, Uhl said. A school district staffer told the trustees Monday that the resignation had been turned in, though it was unclear exactly when it was submitted.

HISD salary records show Stiles has been a district employee since August 1993. She was initially hired as a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, Uhl said.

The first reference to Project GRAD in Stiles’ employee file at HISD is in 1997, Uhl said, where Stiles is listed as a math teacher at the now-closed Lamar Elementary serving as a “Teacher Trainer under Project Grad.”

She began working as Project GRAD’s teacher specialist for HISD in August 2000, earning a salary of more than $40,000, Uhl said. Salary records show her HISD pay increased each year, up to the $67,318 she earned last year.

It was not clear at press time when Stiles became an employee of the nonprofit organization Project GRAD. IRS forms for the nonprofit were available online as far back as 2006, and all three years’ forms describe Stiles as the executive director.

Texas Watchdog called the Project GRAD Houston office number, asking for Stiles. A receptionist said Stiles was in a meeting and took a message. As of print, Stiles did not return the phone call.

HISD’s headquarters at 1800 W. 18th St. is 8.5 miles away from the Project GRAD office at 3000 Richmond — a 25-minute drive in traffic, according to Google Maps.

According to its website, Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Houston is part of a national program that works to increase high school graduation and college attendance rates for low-income students. The national program grew “from a scholarship program which began in partnership with (the) Houston Independent School District in 1989.”

The group was founded by former Tenneco oil chief James Ketelsen and his wife, Kathryn; James Ketelsen is Project GRAD Houston’s president and board chairman, while Kathryn Ketelsen is one of Harris’ fellow directors. HISD named an elementary school after James Ketelsen in 2002.

In June HISD trustees approved a renewal of the contract between the Houston district and Project GRAD Houston. The agreement for the coming school year, for $1.86 million, includes work at three high schools — Jefferson Davis, John Reagan and Jack Yates — and five elementary schools, Thomas Jefferson, James Ketelsen, Adele Looscan, Clemente Martinez and Sidney Sherman.

The possible addition of a ninth site, Phillis Wheatley High School in northeast Houston, prompted Grier’s mention of Stiles’ dual employment at Monday’s school board meeting. The addition of Wheatley and the additional costs of $59,221 associated with it are up for approval by school trustees Thursday (agenda item D-4).

Do you think HISD should have a policy that prohibits an employee from receiving a taxpayer-funded salary from the school district while at the same time working for a business or nonprofit that contracts with the district?

Let Texas Watchdog know what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. On Twitter, @TexasWatchdog or @Lwalsh, and follow #HISD for stories, meeting highlights and more on HISD.

A story published for Texas Watchdog:

Video: HISD Trustee Harvin Moore addresses TEA accountability ratings
Tue Aug 10 18:16:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

More Houston Independent School District schools are receiving higher state accountability ratings than last year, recent reports released from the Texas Education Agency show, but critics blast the standards as too low.

Over 100 schools in the Houston Independent School District received the highest state rating of “exemplary” this year and almost 250 schools in HISD made “adequate yearly progress,” or AYP, a federal requirement for campuses and states that measures reading, math and graduation and attendance rates. In both instances, the number of schools meeting the standard is greater than last year.

But what does it all mean? AYP ratings are a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. TAKS test results are used when determining both federal AYP ratings and TEA accountability ratings–exemplary, recognized, not acceptable, etc. But critics say the standards have gotten so diluted as to be a poor measure of achievement.

The Texas Tribune reported on the issue last month, underscoring the measure’s unreliability.

In fifth grade reading, 44 percent of students who were projected to pass actually failed. In eighth grade math, 38 percent. In 11th grade reading and math, 30 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey questioned the use of the Texas Projection Measure last week:

Schools and school districts are bumped up one rating level if the TPM projects their students to do well enough to reach that level within the next few years.

I don’t blame administrators or teachers, especially those with responsibility for educating low-income children, for liking the TPM. They have a tough job, and they enjoy getting public credit for making gains, even if those gains don’t show up in passing rates on the high-stakes test.

And the West University Examiner raised questions about specific HISD schools that made it on the state’s list of “acceptable” schools:

Curiously, also listed as recognized is Fondren Middle School, called a failing school by HISD and placed in the Apollo program for schools in need of immediate turnaround or risk potential closure by the state. Other Apollo schools were included in the acceptable category, including Ryan, Dowling and Attucks middle schools. Four high schools in the Apollo initiative, Sharpstown, Lee, Jones and Kashmere, were named unacceptable. Kashmere and Key were previously on the state’s acceptable list until a recent TEA ruling that demoted both due to findings of test data improprieties.

It is not just the media that is questioning the rating system used by the TEA. HISD trustee Harvin Moore has for months raised concerns over the current rating system during board meetings. Moore has even opined on the issue on his personal blog, The Transformation Times:

“Each year, state standards boards have announced that they are lowering their ‘cut scores’ (number of questions a child must answer correctly to pass) for various noble reasons, usually because ‘the test questions are harder this year, so the same level of proficiency is reflected by a smaller number of correct answers.’”

Moore discussed with Texas Watchdog what he believes may be the solution to inflated state accountability ratings and lowered cutoff scores: Common Core. Watch the clip below for more.

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD trustees accept $3,000 in campaign donations from vendor CEP during debate on CEP’s contract renewal
Tue Aug 10 15:04:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

More than $3,000 in campaign contributions were made to Houston Independent School District trustees from individuals with connections to a district provider of alternative schooling during the months trustees were debating the renewal of the provider’s contract, campaign finance records show.
Houston ISD trustees Mike Lunceford and Larry Marshall each received individual donations from Randle Richardson, the founder and current owner of Community Educational Partners, and Phil Baggett, a chief executive at CEP.

CEP is a company based in Nashville, Tenn., that develops alternative school options for school districts across the country. In June HISD trustees renewed a contract with CEP of around $13.7 million for the 2010-11 school year. The renewal came after debates in the community, between trustees and a performance evaluation that was paid for by CEP.

Richardson donated $500 to Lunceford on Jan. 11, according to the campaign finance records. That same day, Baggett also donated $500. These were the only contributions Lunceford received during the January-to-June reporting period.

“I met with Richardson sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, and that is when he gave me the checks,” Lunceford said. “They are both involved with CEP, he (Richardson) told me about CEP, I did not know what it was, so I went out and looked at it.”

Lunceford said he was approached about the meeting with Richardson by Vidal Martinez, an attorney who represents CEP, sometime around October.

When asked by Texas Watchdog if he thought the contributions were meant to influence his vote, Lunceford said, “I don’t know what his intentions were, I am sure they were, but it did not sway my vote. I only vote for the kids.”

“I got contributions from lots of people who do business with HISD,” Lunceford said. Lunceford, whose district includes Bellaire High School, was elected to the school board in November.

CEP did not return a call for comment.

Richardson donated $750 to Marshall on Jan. 30, according to his campaign finance report. Five months later, on June 24, Richardson made another contribution to Marshall’s campaign, this time for $1,000. Baggett donated $750 to Marshall’s campaign on Jan. 30.

“History is there that shows they have contributed previously,” Marshall said. “I think it could be perceived a conflict if it were the first time they had donated.”

Marshall recently defended a consulting gig with CEP during an HISD board meeting, saying he had been a “consultant in Atlanta assisting them business development.” Marshall told Texas Watchdog that he made sure his consulting contract with CEP only included areas outside of Texas.

According to Marshall, he is no longer working for CEP and quit his position as a consultant the day a board conflict of interest policy was approved in 2004. The policy said the district could not “contract with a business entity in which a trustee or anyone related to the trustee…has any pecuniary interest” — in other words, a monetary or financial interest.

HISD law firms’ donations

Trustees reported other donations from companies doing business with HISD. Paula Harris’ campaign finance report lists a $500 contribution from the Bracewell and Giuliani PAC Committee in February and another $500 donation from Thompson and Horton LLP. Both law firms can represent HISD based on a list of law firms approved by the district.

Calls to Thompson and Horton and to Bracewell and Giuliani.

Accepting these campaign donations does not break any federal, state or local laws.

But if the companies had been vendors in a federal technology program, accepting some of those donations would have violated board policy. Under the new ethics rules for the E-rate program, the cap on campaign donations is $500 a year.

E-rate is a federal technology program that awards money to schools and libraries across the country. HISD had to pay $850,000 to settle a lawsuit with the federal government stemming from allegations of employees accepting gifts, meals and personal checks.

It was because of a federal investigation that HISD had to adhere to stricter campaign finance rules. But should a federal investigation be the only reason HISD trustees agree to campaign limits from vendors or contractors?

We want to know what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. On Twitter: @lwalsh. Be sure to follow #HISD on Twitter for the most recent HISD updates from Texas Watchdog.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD board president Greg Meyers corrects campaign finance form, reports $1,400 in reimbursements to himself

Fri Aug 6 20:31:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Houston Independent School District board president Greg Meyers amended his July campaign finance report today, adding more than $1,400 in reimbursements to himself for phone bills, a day after a Texas Watchdog story that noted the omission.
On the original campaign finance report, Meyers left off more than $1,000 in checks and a withdrawal from the campaign account to Meyers, bank records obtained by Texas Watchdog showed. The campaign checks and withdrawal slip were signed by Meyers.

On the cover page of the amended report, Meyers writes:

“I inadvertently omitted some expenditures on schedule F to myself as reimbursement for the properly reported schedule G expenditures. I am filing this corrected report within 14 days of learning of the error; which was yesterday, August 5. I believe my report as originally filed substantially complied with the law.”

Three checks of $250, a $200 check and a $100 deposit were posted to the “Greg Meyers Campaign” account between January and April. In addition to those transactions, in the correction to the campaign finance report Meyers lists a fifth check for $393.16 made out to Meyers from his campaign account on June 23.

Greg MeyersMEYERS
When alerted to the discrepancies Thursday by a reporter, Meyers said the mistake was in not properly listing the checks as a reimbursement for more than $1,500 in AT&T campaign phone bills, which were listed in the initial report

Meyers said that he had never submitted campaign finance reports with reimbursements before and that it was just a filing mistake. He later acknowledged that on his Jan. 15 campaign finance report he had correctly filled out the paperwork to show reimbursements to himself.

Candidates in Texas are required to disclose campaign expenses without exception, though small expenditures do not require the same level of detail as larger ones.

Meyers was elected to the HISD board of education in 2004 and re-elected in 2009. He represents District VI, which includes Sharpstown and Westside high schools and encompasses an area north of Westheimer Road south to Bellfort Street.

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter. Follow @TexasWatchdog or search #HISD.