Season for
Making Deals
Urban
Renewal
Calendar brings yard
and garage sales
‘City o/
Roses’
Wins support o f
local leaders
see page 13
i jJortlauh
see page 3
hsevuer
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXX. Number 21
of
community service
Wednesday • May 26. 2010
Principal Sidelined
Jefferson
leader removed
shortly before
audit release
According to the audit, which examined
school finances for the school year that
ended June 30,2009, 16 student body funds
were in the red, an increase o f six funds from
the last year that carried a deficit.
“Fund deficits should not be allowed to
occur; expenses should not be approved
without sufficient funding,” stated a letter
a lack o f internal controls over the
operation o f the Student Body Funds and an
inconsistent tone at the top which resulted in
an override o f established policies and
procedures without written justification.
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Jefferson High School Principal Cynthia
Harris and the school’s business manager
Reis Wilbanks were placed on administra­
tive leave last week by Portland Public
Schools.
M att Shelby, d istrict spokesperson,
wouldn’t discuss the reasons for decision,
but it was made shortly before the release of
an audit o f Jefferson’s finances, which paints
a damning picture ofhow money was handled
at the northeast Portland school, and points
a finger at top management for lax fiscal
practices.
in does not always fit within the end o f the
fiscal year.”
The audit also found that two donations
o f $5,000 or more to Jefferson that were
designated for a specific use were improp­
erly placed in the principal’s discretionary
account.
It also found 21 reimbursements, totaling
Cynthia Harris
The audit found “ ... a lack o f internal
controls over the operation o f the Student
Body Funds and an inconsistent tone at the
top which resulted in an override o f estab­
lished policies and procedures without writ­
ten justification.”
— from text of Jefferson High School financial audit
from auditors to district officials outlining
their findings..
The letter includes an explanation from
Harris who noted that the student body
funds are made up o f grants and donations,
and that, “The timing o f these funds coming
$7,590, did not contain receipts or adequate
supporting documentation, and on four oc­
casions money was spent out o f accounts
that were running deficits.
continued
on page 14
Making
Amends
Memorial would pay tribute
to discriminated Chinese
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
A new effort by a coalition o f civic organizations and
government officials want to make sure that the lives o f two
previously marginalized groups aren’t forgotten by build­
ing a memorial in their honor in a neglected section o f a
pioneer cemetery in southeast Portland.
The Lone Fir Cemetery has been the resting place o f
people with names that may be fami liar to many Portlanders
like Dekum, Hawthorne, Lovejoy and Curry.
continued
on page 17
photo by
J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
_ Local leaders promoting the construction of a memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery in southeast Portland stand
next to ‘Block 14 ’ where discriminated Chinese immigrants and mental health patients in the late 1800s and
early part of the 20th Century were buried and forgotten.