A former Hamilton County Schools nutrition official stole more than $12,000 of property and pocketed the money, according to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.
On Feb. 12, the Hamilton County grand jury indicted Andrew Woodbury, the district’s former assistant nutrition director, on charges of theft of property, forgery, misrepresenting information to a state auditor and official misconduct, a comptroller’s investigative report said.
The investigation, which occurred after Hamilton County Schools officials reported allegations that an employee misappropriated school nutrition assets and abused his position for personal gain, found that Woodbury misappropriated assets valued at $12,375 by circumventing the department’s established property disposal process.
Woodbury was suspended on Feb. 24, 2022, and was terminated on April 29, 2022, according to the report.
Per procedure, when equipment or supplies are identified as broken or unusable, district nutrition employees recommend the asset be repaired, scrapped, salvaged for parts or sold via auction, the report said. For items to be sold via auction, an authorization form must be completed by the department’s accounting manager, as well as have signatures from the nutrition director, superintendent and school board chair. The item can then be listed for sale.
Investigators determined Woodbury created an unauthorized account on GovDeals, the online marketplace the Hamilton County School Nutrition department used to facilitate surplus equipment sales. Sale proceeds from that account were directly deposited into his personal bank account, the report said.
“Woodbury did not request or receive proper authorization from the HCSN Accounting Manager or the HCSN Director for the sale of the HCSN’s surplus property through his unauthorized GovDeals account,” the report said. “Woodbury further bypassed the approval process by completing and signing his name on the line designated for the HCSN Director on the Surplus Property Disposal Authorization Form for each asset sold.”
Between October 2021 and February 2022, Woodbury sold 19 nutrition department assets without the knowledge or approval of officials and pocketed the proceeds from the sales, according to the report. Woodbury undervalued the items when he listed them, receiving $2,303 for the sales. Nutrition officials valued the surplus property at $12,374.
On Woodbury’s unauthorized GovDeals account, he also had 24 listings identified as either items he owned or items he had taken from Hamilton County dumpsters, the report said. These listings sold for $1,219.
“Woodbury stated that he knew using the unauthorized HCSN GovDeals account to sell his personal property was wrong,” the report said. “Woodbury also confirmed that he never asked for or received permission, or authorization from HCSN officials to sell his personal property on GovDeals using the HCSN name.”
The investigation revealed Hamilton County Schools did not provide adequate oversight or separate financial duties for the nutrition department’s surplus property disposal process.
In a statement, district spokesperson Steve Doremus said the “stewardship of public resources is a core value and one of the highest priorities for Hamilton County Schools.”
“Based on the findings of that investigation, HCS has taken corrective actions to improve its processes and procedures for the handling and disposal of surplus items,” he said by email.
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.