SC school board member wanted taxpayers to fund hotel upgrade until ethics threat, email says
For more than a month, Richland 2 board member Lashonda McFadden resisted reimbursing the district $425 for upgrading a hotel room at a conference in Atlanta and a pet fee, according to an email sent by the school board chairman.
McFadden paid the school district back in October for a $425 fee that was charged to the school district for a three-night upgrade to her hotel room and a fee for bringing her pet along to a September school board conference in Atlanta.
McFadden told The State she had previously been told the upcharge was OK as long as she paid back the amount. But the school board’s chairman writes that McFadden resisted paying back the money for more than a month.
At one point, Chairman James Manning said, McFadden asked for the money to be taken out of a different taxpayer-funded travel account. The money was finally paid back after Manning told McFadden he would refer the matter to the S.C. Ethics Commission, he said.
The claims are detailed in an email exchange Manning had with a constituent complaining about other board members’ travel expenses.
“Mrs. McFadden upgraded her room without notifying the district in advance,” Manning wrote in the email. “She also brought a family pet without notifying the district or the hotel, the hotel staff discovered the pet and then charged the room/district for the pet fee.”
When other board members have upgraded their room, they have informed the district of the change and paid the district the difference, Manning said, but McFadden initially did not do that.
“Once the district was notified of the additional unauthorized charges, a letter was sent to her requesting repayment within thirty days,” Manning wrote. “Mrs. McFadden requested that the district cover the cost with her travel allotment,” funding the district provides to board members for their travel.
“When she was told, this was not appropriate she responded with emails stating that the district was retaliating against her and was displaying bias towards her.”
After the 30-day period had passed, Manning said he wrote to McFadden again saying that “additional action” would need to be taken.
“About a week later she responded back to me asking me to garnish her stipend,” Manning wrote. “I had to explain that we could not legally do that and that due to non-payment within the defined 30 days I would have to take further action to report her to the ethics commission for ‘obtaining an economic interest for herself due to her position’. It was at this time that she repaid the amount in full.”
The State asked the school district for board members’ travel expenses on Sept. 19. Richland 2 received McFadden’s payment on Oct. 19, and the district responded to The State’s inquiry the next day.
McFadden did not immediately return a request for comment from The State. Manning declined to comment on the email.
Manning was responding to an email questioning other board members’ spending, including former chairwoman Teresa Holmes’ use of a rental car on a separate trip that exceeded spending limits.
Holmes told The State the expense was pre-approved by the district with the intent of the car being used by all board members who went on the trip to San Diego. “I paid for it upfront and received the pre-approved reimbursement,” Holmes said.
Manning said those charges “were authorized by the district, they were not illegal expenditures,” as he characterized McFadden’s spending.
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