Auditor demands repayment on school district misspending

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi auditor is demanding that former officials repay more than $202,800 to cover improper spending by a school district in one of the poorest parts of the state.

Auditor Shad White said in a news release Thursday that the largest single demand is for $90,677 from James Henderson, former superintendent of the Holmes County Consolidated School District.

The state took control of the district in August after the Mississippi Department of Education found problems with financial management, academic achievement and student safety. The district has about 2,500 students.

White said Henderson had received a $170,000 salary, which was $10,000 a year more than the school board approved, and the district paid Henderson more for moving expenses than the law allowed.

Others receiving repayment demands from the auditor were the district's former chief financial officer, Cheryl Peoples; and former school board members Anthony Anderson, Louise Winters, April Jones and Elder Dean.

The auditor's office published a report in December that outlined findings of misspending, leading to the demands for repayment. White said his office found the school district spent more than $4,200 for a party to celebrate passage of a bond issue that Holmes County voters ended up rejecting.

The auditor's office found payments of $14,000 to companies owned by relatives of Henderson. It also found more than $12,000 in unauthorized purchases on a school district credit card.