Miami-Dade school board tightens oversight of spending following arrest of former member
WLRN | By Kate Payne | February 14, 2024
The Miami-Dade County School Board is taking more steps to police itself, after a former member was arrested on charges of misusing her school district credit cards for personal expenses.
Former Board Member Lubby Navarro has formally pleaded not guilty to four counts related to her alleged fraudulent use of district-issued cards. Investigators say she ran up more than $100,000 in unauthorized charges in one calendar year.
Current school board members are taking steps to try to prevent that kind of misuse from happening again.
Board Member Danny Espino sponsored an agenda item at Tuesday’s board meeting to codify some reforms made in the wake of Navarro’s arrest last month.
After the arrest, Superintendent Jose Dotres took steps to add additional oversight of the district’s purchase cards or “p-cards” as well as travel credit cards issued to board members and select officials.
The changes specified that a district staffer will be assigned to review p-card and travel card expenditures made each month by board members, the general counsel, the chief auditor, the superintendent and the chief of staff.
“This review will now require these offices to submit the signed pre-authorization forms, the invoices from vendors and the acknowledgments of receipt with the credit card reconciliation each month,” the policy reads. “Following this review, the Chief Financial Officer will approve these reconciliations.”
Additionally, the chief financial officer and chief of staff will have final review of any requests to increase the spending limits on the cards, which are currently set at $6,000 a month for board members.
Espino’s item codifies those changes made by the superintendent — ensuring that they can’t be changed except by board action. The board voted to approve the measure as part of the consent agenda.
“These actions by the Superintendent of Schools are appropriate first steps in demonstrating to Miami Dade County residents that Miami-Dade County Public Schools sees its fiduciary responsibilities as one of its highest priorities,” the agenda item reads.
“Codifying these new processes within School Board policy would immediately strengthen the policies that delineate the way that School Board Members, the General Counsel, the Chief Auditor, the Superintendent, and the Chief of Staff utilize their P-Cards.”
A lengthy arrest warrant details how Navarro repeatedly flouted district policies on unauthorized spending, including buying up hundreds of gift cards, as well as wine, food and high-end appliances — and how she allegedly doctored the receipts she was required to submit each month to district staff.
Navarro ran up thousands of dollars in inappropriate charges for at least a year without detection, investigators say, until she resigned in December 2022. It was only then that her final stack of receipts were reviewed by the district’s chief of staff and chief financial officer — who reported the suspicious spending to the authorities.
Now, the chief of staff will review top officials’ receipts and expenditures every month.
WLRN’S broadcasting license is held by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which is governed by elected board members. The school board has a media management agreement with Friends of WLRN, an independent nonprofit organization responsible for daily operations and management of the School Board’s media properties, including WLRN TV, WLRN (91.3 FM) and WKWM (91.5 FM).
