full press release - Houston Independent School District

Fraud Will Not Be Tolerated,Say HISD Board and SuperintendentSeptember 9, 2010 –In a show of support for the District Attorney’s office and toreiterate that fraud and theft of district and taxpayer funds will not be tolerated,HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and Board President Greg Meyers attended thesentencing Wednesday, September 8, of a former HISD employee accused ofstealing from the district.Lydia Kinchen was sentenced to eight years in prison for a felony convictionof misapplication of fiduciary property. She was indicted in 2007 for stealing$171,000 in district and taxpayer monies while she was employed as an accountingcoordinator with HISD. The theft occurred from November 2005, through October2006.Board President Meyers and Superintendent Grier attended both thesentencing investigation hearing last month and the sentencing yesterday toencourage Judge Vanessa Velasquez to sentence Kinchen to the maximumpunishment permissible by law. Ms. Kinchen had no prior offenses and faced apossible conviction range from two to twenty years in prison.“The HISD Board of Education will not tolerate any type of fraud ormisappropriation of funds, resources or assets that would otherwise be used tosupport the district’s mission of educating Houston’s children,” said Meyers. “TheBoard will continue to support the administration’s effort to pursue criminal andcivil charges against anyone who steals from the district, students and taxpayers.”HISD will seek recovery through its fidelity bond coverage and will pursuecivil remedies for the remaining loss. “Our students and the Houston taxpayershave been irreparably harmed by an orchestrated and planned theft of money thatshould have been used for education,” said Grier. “We have implementedprocedural safeguards to prevent any such future thefts of district and/or taxpayerfunds. Fraud, theft or misappropriation of HISD funds will not be tolerated andwill be referred for criminal prosecution to the Harris County District Attorney’sOffice.”

The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the seventh-largestin the United States with 297 schools and more than 200,000 students. The 301-square-mile district isone of the largest employers in the Houston metropolitan area with nearly 30,000 employees.For more information, visit the HISD Web site at www.houstonisd.org.