Funds of a federal history grant awarded to the Chillicothe R-2 School District were appropriately used, according to local district officials; and, the U.S. Department of Education has signed off on the project stating that all the terms and conditions of the grant were met.
The Teaching Traditional American History grant, in the amount of $892,000, was approved for Chillicothe High School history teacher Mike Lair in 2004 to administer. The grant’s goal was to help rural teachers acquire additional skills for teaching traditional American history. The program also provided free credit toward career advancement for participating teachers.
The performance of Lair, as director of the grant who is also a Republican candidate for the open 7th District state house seat, has recently come under attack from the website: www.firedupmissouri.com. The website, primarily affiliated with the Democratic Party, claims to have been developed in 2005 by Sen. Jean Carnahan, widow of former Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, and Roy Temple, a political and policy analyst and former deputy chief of staff and chief of staff for the late Gov. Mel Carnahan. The site alleges conflicts of interest and abuse of federal funds, both of which Lair, the school district and the U.S. Department of Education deny.
The conflict of interest issue stems from Jeanne Lair being paid $24,000 as a result of the grant which her husband secured. Jeanne Lair, who was already an employee of the Chillicothe R-2 School District, was hired by the district as promotional assistant of the grant. As promotional assistant, she was paid $6,000 annually for four years. Additionally, the school district hired a technology assistant at a rate of $19 per hour, 10 hours per month. This position was initially held by Karie Black, who was also was employee of the Chillicothe school district, and later held by Jim Wheeler, another R-2 employee.
The Chillicothe School District, solely through the use of the federal grant money, paid for all costs associated with the program. Grant money was used to pay Lair $30,000 annually to serve as director for four years.
The hirings of Jeanne Lair as promotional assistant and Black were recommended by Mike Lair, reviewed by a 10-member mostly-local committee, and approved by the school district, according to Chillicothe R-2 Superintendent Dr. Linda Gray Smith.
Critics, however, say the payments made to Jeanne Lair through the program directed by her husband “fly in the face of guidance provided in the federal regulations for the administration of grant monies” which state, in part, that “no employee, officer or agent of the grantee or subgrantee shall participate in selection, or in the award or administration of a contract supported by federal funds if a conflict of interest, real or apparent, would be involved.” Such a conflict would arise when any member of his immediate family is involved.
The website claims that Lair violated the terms of these standards (EDGAR) when he awarded a contract to his wife.
Jane Glickman, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Education, stated that those particular education standards apply only to procurements.
“Therefore, these regulations would apply only if someone was hired as a contractor (rather than as an employee of the district),” she said. “The regulations in EDGAR cited in the [website] article do not apply at all if that person was hired as an employee of the LEA [local education agency].”
R-2 Superintendent Smith said it is not uncommon for the district to hire related personnel.
“The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education indicated that as employees of the district it is not a problem to employ husband and wife teams,” Smith said. “School districts do so all the time.”
The website also claims that on the grant application, Lair described a number of positions that would be hired to help administer the program, including one position titled “promotional assistant.” Though Lair included lengthy resumés of a number of academics who would be involved in the project in various capacities “he curiously made no mention of and provided no work history for any individual who would fill the promotional assistant role.”
Lair said he gave careful thought in recommending Jeanne to the school district..........
Chillicothe, Mo. —
