ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - The St. Joseph school board has fired one school administrator and reassigned another in response to a highly critical audit.
The board voted Thursday to fire Chief Operating Officer Rick Hartigan, effective immediately, and to reassign Human Resources Director Doug Flowers, until June 30. Flowers will be offered a teaching contract for next year. The district said in a statement it would have no further comment.
Hartigan and Superintendent Fred Czerwonka were placed on leave in January. The board voted last week to begin termination proceedings against Czerwonka.
The changes come after a state audit released last week found the district had paid at least $25 million in unapproved stipends to administrators in the last eight years. The district got a "poor" ranking after auditors found 17 areas of concern.