Escambia School District Establishes Fraud Hotline

November 12, 2013

The Escambia County School District has launched a third party fraud, waste and abuse hotline.

The district contracted with an independent service to establish a reporting hotline.   “The Network” provides an opportunity to report possible cases of fraud, waste, abuse, theft or illegal behavior.

“The School District is committed to upholding high expectations for the ethical conduct among its employees.  The establishment of this hotline will serve as a tool to provide the support necessary to maintain the district’s integrity with taxpayers,” said Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.

Situations that appear to involve fraud, waste, abuse, theft or illegal activities can be reported by calling toll-free (855) 819-1248 or using the online reporting tool at https://www.reportlineweb.com/escambia.

Individuals will not be required to provide their name when calling the hotline. When placing a call, individuals are encouraged to provide as much information as possible about the abuse. The hotline is available 24 hours per day/7 days a week.

“The majority of fraud, waste and abuse that is detected and reported typically comes from inside sources. This establishment of a fraud, waste, and abuse hotline for the Escambia County School District, where individuals can anonymously report wrongdoing without the fear of retribution, will have a tremendously positive impact in curbing fraudulent, unlawful activity–which will ultimately result in better protection of taxpayer assets” commented Jeff Bergosh, Board Chair.

Comments

7 Responses to “Escambia School District Establishes Fraud Hotline”

  1. wise on November 14th, 2013 9:23 am

    Let me just say that I work with a gentleman who does not have arms and I assure you he can and does do his job perfectly fine!!!!! The comment about not being able to teach if you don’t have arms was a thoughtless, ignorant and hurtful comment – you should be ashamed of yourself! Stephen Hawking was a quadraplegic and look what he accomplished. While I agree that if you NEED assistive devices you should use them but, it is up to the individual to know what is best for their specific NEED. Never judge a book by it’s cover.

  2. perdido fisherman on November 13th, 2013 9:25 pm

    They need to look at the maintenance guys, they steal tools, a//c units, R-13 freon, all kinds of stuff. I hate a thief as much as i hate murderers, molesters, rapist and the like.

  3. Preda on November 12th, 2013 10:05 pm

    And children continue to sit in classes unable to read and comprehend and fail because no one wants to help if the schools will loose money.

  4. Devastating Dave on November 12th, 2013 12:52 pm

    That phone’s going to be ringing off the hook! Lots of payback time!

  5. frustrated on November 12th, 2013 6:42 am

    Carolyn,

    Good point…another school, which will remain unidentified, has a teacher…with a handicap, and refuses to wear a device that would assist her in teaching her class. Refuses to wear…if I cannot see the blackboard, in order to teach and see my students, and or their work, should it not be mandatory to wear glasses? If I cannot walk, should it be required of me to be able to move around effectively? Wheelchair, walker, cane? If I have no arms, can I effectively teach? If I cannot hear, should I be required to wear a hearing aid so I can hear what is going on in my class and hear any questions my students might have? These examples may sound silly, but for teachers that “might” have the above situation and the district continues to pay them…is that fraud as well? Unions? Start there…

  6. Lin on November 12th, 2013 6:40 am

    Right on Carolyn B., it is a shame that we have to resort to having individuals snitch on each other. Just install cameras, amazing what does not happen when they know one is in use.

  7. Carolyn Bramblett on November 12th, 2013 5:10 am

    Is that right? Malcolm needs to see that the rules for the county don’t wink at crime. When we have employees that commit crimes they ought to be fired, plain and simple. Did anyone get fired at Cordova Park Elementary school? If you wire up and kitchen and catch the people red-handed and no one gets fired—what’s the lesson there?