A woman who fabricated a memo demanding payment for suspect school contractors has been brought back to her job at the D.C. Board of Education.
Mary Bunn was put on administrative leave last October after she admitted to pasting school board Vice President Carolyn Graham’s signature on a memo to the school finance offices. The memo demanded payments for a series of contractors who are now at the center of a grand jury investigation of the school board’s charter school offices and its former executive director, Brenda Belton.
School board President Robert Bobb brought Bunn back to work late last month, Bunn told The Examiner in a brief phone interview Monday.
“It’s OK,so far,” Bunn said.
The fabricated memo was identical to one Graham had written previously to then-school Chief Finance Officer John Musso. When schools comptroller Abinet Belachew continued to delay payments, Bunn took the Musso memo, readdressed it to Belachew and pasted Graham’s signature on it.
Belton allegedly used a series of companies to enrich herself, her family and friends.
The scandal surrounding Belton and several other charter schools stung the board. Last year, it voted to cede its authority over 18 charter schools to another public agency. The transfer is scheduled for later this year.
“It’s a temporary job,” Bunn told The Examiner.
Steve Kapani, the financial analyst whose allegations led to the Belton investigation, remains on administrative leave. He has threatened to sue the schools for violating D.C.’s whistle-blower protection laws.
