From The Seattle Times: The Seattle School Board has fired Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson amid a financial scandal. Susan Enfield, the district's chief academic officer, has been named interim superintendent. The board also dismissed Don Kennedy, the district's chief financial and operations officer. Neither Goodloe-Johnson nor Kennedy has been directly implicated in a state Auditor's Office report that detailed improper activity in the district's small-business contracting program. But an attorney reviewing management's actions concluded that both knew enough about those problems that they should have acted. The audit found $1.8 million of contracts awarded through the program provided no public benefit or were questionable.
EDITORIAL: Goodloe-Johnson had a mixed record as Seattle superintendent.
FEBRUARY 2011...from The Seattle Times: Seattle Public Schools spent up to $1.8 million on contract work that was never done or didn't benefit the district, triggering a secret criminal investigation into allegations of financial fraud. The irregularities center on a school-district program that helped small businesses, primarily female- and minority-owned companies, compete for contracts with the district and other government agencies. Details of the alleged fraud are emerging more than seven months after a single suspicious transaction led to multiple, overlapping investigations implicating people inside and outside the district. The district's internal auditor resigned in December as the district prepared to fire him in connection with a special state audit.
