A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found a custodian hired to clean the preschool rooms in a southwest Iowa school district was paid for over 300 hours when he did not work.
The Early Childhood Center is located on the East Union Community School District’s campus in Afton. According to a report released by the state auditor, the center’s director was not satisficed with the cleaning done by school custodians, so she hired her son in August of 2020 to clean the preschool area. After a tip last summer, district officials confirmed via security video that Hope Hall had clocked in for her son and Grant Hall was seen on video arriving to work several hours later. District officials fired the Halls.
The state auditor’s special investigation concluded Grant Hall was paid for 217 regular hours and 85 hours of overtime he did not work, amounting to about $4400 of improper payroll payments over two years. The state auditor recommends that East Union Schools develop policies to prevent the appearance of favoritism and conflicts of interest when a relative of a district employee is hired and that relative is their supervisor.