Dothan school official cries foul over athletic fund payments

By Jim Cook

Published: July 9, 2008

The Dothan City Schools chief financial officer says Dothan High School went around the central office to pay unauthorized coaching staff by cutting them checks for conducting clinics and camps that were likely never held.

In a letter to city school board members, Chief Financial Officer Mike Manuel described about $4,000 in payments made from the school’s athletic fund to individuals as unauthorized payments in the last two years to coaching staff. According to Manuel, the school went beyond its allotment for coaching staff by having the individuals work during the football and baseball seasons, and then paid them for these services in the form of checks for athletic camps and clinics.

Manuel’s letter said further investigation would likely yield additional similar payments. The Dothan Eagle has made an Alabama Open Records request for all records pertaining to athletic camps and clinics to the Dothan City and Houston County Schools.

According to Manuel, invoices were turned in describing some of the payments as funds paid for pitching camps for the baseball team and a kicking camp for the football team. Manuel said the payments raised a red flag because there was no documentation of the activities of the camps, such as a roster of students who participated or a documentation of fees charged to the participants. Manuel said the pitching camps were also questionable because they were held at the end of the baseball season.

“I question why a pitching camp was conducted after the end of the baseball season,” Manuel said in the letter. “Rather, I believe this was compensation for assisting with coaching duties during the baseball season.”

In addition to the camp payments, the high school paid a Dothan High teacher $1,500 for assisting with the football season and $300 for help during the baseball season from the athletic fund without taking out any taxes or other legally required deductions.

The Dothan High athletic fund totals about $30,000 and is funded by allocations from the city school board and ticket sales and other activities by the school. The questionable purchase orders were signed by Dothan High principals Georgia Ellis Gary and Andrew Sewell, but Manuel said the hiring of the individuals was done by the Dothan High football and baseball coaches. Dirk Williams and Jim Scible were the baseball and football coaches at the time the payments were made.

Scible and Williams are no longer coaches at Dothan High. Scible no longer lives in the Dothan area. Williams remains a teacher at Dothan High.
Williams declined to comment on the matter Tuesday.

“People are going to say what they’re going to say,” he said.

Manuel has recommended that the board adopt policies requiring more documentation for athletic camp and clinic activities.