The Mount Vernon School Board decided to reassign its Jamaican-born superintendent on Monday in response to a federal investigation into the distribution of funding totaling around $8.55 million.
According to a press statement from the school board, at a special meeting held Monday night, the board decided to administratively reassign Dr. Waveline Bennett-Conroy as superintendent of schools until further notice and/or board action. Despite being relocated, her tasks are still unknown.
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During the time of the reassignment, Dr. Bennett-Conroy will continue to be paid her full salary and benefits.
The district school board recognized that Bennett-Conroy and the school system are under federal investigation for how they handled federal grant money at the same time.
The school board said that records from the district and Bennett-Conroy pertaining to funding that the federal government had previously given to the district were being sought by the US Attorney’s office for the northern district of New York.
The probe is focused on the granting of contracts totaling more than $8 million in federal funds to a single organization, the West Nyack-based Just Inspire, since 2016.
Marlon Stephenson, the son of Bennett-Conroy, was previously employed by the Mount Vernon School system on a 13-month contract as the director of business and grants. According to reports, Susan Maher, who shortly thereafter founded Just Inspire, and Stephenson both had jobs at the same organization in 2016.
Dr. Bennett-Conroy, who was born in Jamaica, was chosen as the district’s new superintendent on July 1 of last year after serving as assistant superintendent for school improvements and in charge of grant-related initiatives.
She has been the subject of inquiries over the district’s granting of federal grant contracts to Just Inspire since last year.
Dr. Bennett-Conroy, who was born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, spent ten years as a teacher there before relocating to the US in 1989.
She is in charge of the Mount Vernon education system’s approximately 1,500-person workforce, which includes 693 teachers. She also controls three high schools and a number of additional institutions serving students in Pre-K through grade 8.
She also oversees the welfare of almost 8,000 students enrolled in the school system and a $266 million US school budget.
