School district official caught with fingers in the cookie jar claims excuse

San Jose Mercury News/Daily News/Bonnie Eslinger, 9/11/13.  "Convicted official ordered to pay Woodside and Portola Valley school districts $2.6 million."

But "the Board did not take better care of me"

"Tim Hanretty, a former top official in the Portola Valley and Woodside school districts who is serving a two-year sentence in state prison for misappropriating public funds, was ordered Tuesday to pay the districts more than $2.6 million in restitution.   ....  "According to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, Hanretty falsified documents in 2007 to obtain a $2.6 million loan for Woodside; the crime was discovered during a district audit in November 2011, and by that time Hanretty was employed as Portola Valley's superintendent. Hanretty resigned from Portola Valley in January 2012, and a subsequent review of that district's finances uncovered six invoices totaling $100,926 that he falsified to pay for his home remodeling project.

....  In a letter to the court before his sentencing, Hanretty wrote that during his tenure with Woodside he became overwhelmed managing a $12 million facilities improvement project because of higher-than-anticipated costs, including overtime to get the work done on time and a series of costly change orders.

....  With regard to Portola Valley, Hanretty said he billed the work on his Skyline Drive home to the district after the school board rejected his request for a $100,000 housing assistance loan.  "I was bitter that the Board did not take better care of me," Hanretty wrote."   Read article.  

Posted by Kathy Meeh