Lease was not terminated so payments continued 

 

LANDRUM—Spartanburg County District One Schools, which includes Landrum and Campobello, recently solved the mystery of a million dollar budget discrepancy.  

The school district’s finances were questioned in January.  

Spartanburg County District One School Superintendent Dr. Ron Garner said last month it was a bookkeeping issue, not an issue of missing money.  

“We discovered that there was a missed deadline on our end where the terms of the lease were extended,” District One Spokesperson Sandra Williams said this week.  

The school system had a lease with Tetra Financial Group for construction projects from 2010 to 2012, including capital improvements. The projects included a new HVAC system at Mabry Middle School and a new roof for Holly Springs Motlow Elementary School.  

Williams said the school system missed a 2013 deadline and the lease was not terminated, so payments continued until 2015.  

Williams said District One has learned a lot through the process and has since added some internal controls and implemented a new 3-step verification process that will help issues such as this from occurring in the future.  

Tetra Financial has returned two of the three payments to the school system, totaling more than $670,000.