TULSA, Okla. — An internal review and an independent audit on Tulsa Public Schools revealed $364,000 paid in questionable contracts.
The contracts are linked to TPS' former head of the Talent Management Department Devin Fletcher.
2 News Oklahoma spoke with TPS Superintendent Deborah Gist about the audit.
She said no money from taxpayers or payrolls was affected and that the money was primarily donor funded.
According to the audit, the district didn't have effective internal controls in place over the procurement and disbursement process to pay vendors.
"[Fletcher] circumvented internal controls in order to make payments to certain vendors for which there was no clear business for the payments or verification of the benefit received by the district," the audit states.
The audit identified one vendor was paid $343,000 with no clear business purpose and another was paid $21,000. The second payment was what sparked the investigation.
Fletcher also accepted over $50,000 in direct payments from TPS vendors, according to the audit. He also authorized vendors to make a one-time $25,000 payment in 2021 to a now former TPS employee, along with $17,000 in bonus payments to multiple TPS employees in 2021 and 2022.
The audit outlined corrective action for the district to take including strengthening and documenting employee understanding of the district policy on conflicts of interest. They also issued a new set of regulations related to conflicts of interest.
Before June of 2023, TPS will initiate an annual process of providing all staff with information the district's conflict of interest policies and reminders of their importance.
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