Chief: No penalty in audit

A paperwork snag resulted in the superintendent's working without a license.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Schools Superintendent Douglas Heuer said an auditor for the state has indicated there will not be a finding of recovery against the school district over the expiration of Heuer's license.
The state's routine yearly audit of the school district, which is taking place now, uncovered the fact late last week that Heuer's superintendent's certificate had expired at the end of June, and that he was working without a license.
The Ohio auditor's office said Wednesday that it was possible there would be a finding of recovery for Heuer's salary based on the district's paying an unlicensed superintendent.
But Heuer said after a board of education work session Wednesday evening that he spoke with the auditor who is at the school now and explained the reason for the licensing lapse.
"I went through everything with him and he said we're fine," Heuer said, provided that he obtains a temporary license from the state department of education and turns in appropriate paperwork and an application for the new five-year license he should have received in July.
Resolution
At Wednesday's work session, the school board passed a resolution requesting that the department of education grant Heuer a temporary license. He needed that resolution along with his application before the state could grant the license.
He said that once the state has what it needs, it will process the temporary license immediately.
Heuer said he ended up working without a license because his adviser from Ohio State University, where he took the course work toward his five-year license, left on a trip to China without turning in his paperwork for the license to the university.
Heuer said the university, once it received the paperwork, would have sent him a letter notifying him that he was eligible to apply for his license. But because the university did not get the paperwork from the adviser, it did not send a letter. And, Heuer said, he forgot about it.
When the school district hired Heuer in June, he had a local superintendent's certificate. But he completed course work last winter to receive the upgraded five-year license. He completed the application for that license in the spring with his adviser, he said.