District employee cleared of allegations

The Maricopa Unified School District has cleared business director Aron Rausch of allegations of accepting gifts that could influence the bid process.

“Mr. Rausch never used this gift; he received it, and it remained on his desk,” said school superintendent Jeff Kleck. “It is a matter of usage; if he had used this gift card, it would have been a serious violation of procurement laws.”

Kleck added the punishment for the alleged violation could have resulted in Rausch’s termination.

The investigation into the acceptance of gifts from vendors by not only Rausch, but also all school staff, was broached at the Dec. 14 school board meeting by then governing board president Geoff Goddard.

Goddard urged Kleck at the meeting to launch an investigation into any incidents involving employees receiving gifts from vendors. The necessity for the investigation arose from an incident involving Rausch accepting a thank you card from InMaricopa owner Scott Bartle containing a voucher for a one night stay at Coyote Trails Bed and Breakfast, valued at between $79 and $150.

According to Bartle the gift was to say thank you to the district for doing business with InMaricopa. “We send thank you cards with tokens of appreciation to all our advertisers.”

At the meeting Goddard stated he believed the gift was from a company in the bidding to become the district’s public relations representative.

However, the school did not put out a request for companies to bid on the contract to become the district’s public relations firm until more than a month after the December meeting.

Bartle said neither of his two companies would put in an application to become the schools’ public relations company.

In addition to Rausch being cleared of any wrongdoing, Kleck said all other employees were found not to be in violation of any procurement policies.

“All staff is now instructed if they receive a gift that exceeds nominal to return it to the vendor,” Kleck said.

File photo