At Monday’s meeting, the Fredericksburg City School Board officially received a report from certified public accounting firm Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates on a review of School Board travel and reimbursement procedures.
The accounting firm reviewed all school board travel expenditures for the period of July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. Based on its findings, the firm recommends several actions that the division should take to strengthen internal controls.
“Once we have a new chief financial officer in place, I’m assured that we will have conversations about implementing those recommendations, or discussing potential implementation,” School Board Chair and Ward 2 representative Katie Pomeroy said after receiving the report.
In July, the board ratified an agreement with the accounting firm — which also performs annual audits for both the school division and city government — to work on the travel review, and the firm submitted a draft report Aug. 7.
A few changes were made to the report between then and now, and there’s one additional recommendation.
The introductory paragraph of the final report clarifies that the review was “related to the travel expenditures of the School Board members of Fredericksburg City Public Schools.” The draft report stated more broadly that the review was of travel expenditures for “Fredericksburg City Public Schools.”
In a statement to the Free Press last month, Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay said that board members are not employees of the school division and that “if the opinions presented in this review are based on policies and procedures of the Fredericksburg City Public Schools, then the metrics utilized and opinions drawn are completely false. To be valid and true, the Code of Virginia and the policies and procedures of the Fredericksburg School Board should be the metrics utilized for this review.”
The final report specifies three conferences board members attended in 2025 that were not sponsored by the Virginia School Boards Association: the Hawaii International Conference on Education and the Consortium of State School Boards Associations’ National Conference attended by former at-large representative Jarvis Bailey, and the National School Boards Association Conference that Kay attended.
In July 2025, the board adopted a policy requiring approval in open session of any travel by school board members other than travel to VSBA conferences.
The final report also provides updated information about reimbursement to Kay for expenses related to the National School Boards Conference in Atlanta in April 2025.
It states that the total cost incurred by the division for that conference was $4,238.24, “of which $410.41 was reduced from the travel reimbursement to [Kay]leaving a net cost to [the division] of $3,827.83.”
The final report continues: “Included in the expenditures for this trip was first class and premium economy airfare ($80 of the cost of this airfare was reduced from the travel reimbursement to the School Board Member from Fredericksburg City Public Schools).”
Kay said after reviewing the draft report that she had gone through her receipts multiple times and had not been able to confirm the travel expenses attributed to her.
“I find it extremely troubling that [the draft report] acknowledges a reimbursement stated in my expense report but fails to document or acknowledge expenses I covered in the same expense report,” she said. “I also find it misleading and disingenuous to state that I have not reimbursed the school system for expenses, when the receipts clearly show those expenses were paid out of pocket.”
The new recommendation included in the report states that if board members need to use school division purchase cards while on travel, they should have cards issued in their names and should each sign an Authorized Card User Agreement.
Both the draft and final report noted one instance in which Kay used a purchase card not issued in her name, and 27 instances in which Bailey did.
The report also makes the following recommendations, based on findings from the review:
- Board members should complete a Travel Per Diem and Reimbursement Request Form for all travel reimbursements.
- Care should be taken “to ensure lodging is obtained at a cost effective rate.”
- Board members should include detailed receipts for all travel-related purchase card charges.
- Personal expenses should not be charged to the purchase card.
- Expenditures should be posted to the correct expenditure lines in the accounting system.
- The division should be consistent in how travelers are reimbursed for meals, either by per diem or actual costs. If either method is allowed, the report says, ‘the travel policy should provide specifics on which circumstances allow for which type of reimbursement.’
Aside from Pomeroy, board members did not discuss the special engagement report on travel Monday.
Also at the meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve the updated governing norms and protocols that came out of sessions with the Virginia School Boards Association in December 2025 and August.
Source: www.fredericksburgfreepress.com
