Opinion ID: 2982405
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Plaintiff’s Reports to the Board

Text: Whatever the reasons, Plaintiff repeatedly told the Board (Plaintiff had been appointed Board Treasurer in January 2008) that DPS was not operating at a deficit and would not have to adopt a deficit budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008. But Plaintiff reversed course in May 2008, when she received the final audit from the Council of Great City Schools. Plaintiff announced to the public that instead of running a surplus, DPS would face a budget deficit of -4- No. 13-1515 approximately $400 million. Plaintiff attributed the expected deficit to the fallout account. Plaintiff informed the Board of the impending deficit in June 2008. Calloway testified to the reaction that followed: Board members Joyce Hayes-Giles and Jimmy Womack “were terribly offended. Literally yelling, slamming the doors, ‘I’m not going to have it. You are never going to declare a deficit budget. We will fire you and you.’ Just every kind of threat there is.” (R. 60-3, Calloway Dep., at 1606.) Calloway too was unhappy with this news. On June 16, 2008, she issued formal reprimands to both Plaintiff and Esaw for mishandling their financial responsibilities. Calloway cited Plaintiff for failing to identify and investigate problems surrounding the fallout account, and for not informing Calloway of the budget deficit. Calloway also cited Esaw for failing to report budget problems to her; although Esaw disputed Calloway’s version of events. Plaintiff ultimately presented the Board with two budgets in June 2008. The first was a one-year deficit budget; the other was a two-year budget that included a deficit-elimination plan. Both options had a serious implication for DPS. As a condition of the district’s 2005 debt offering, adopting a deficit budget would trigger the appointment of an emergency manager to take over operations of DPS. Calloway testified that although the public responded well to Plaintiff’s two-year deficit reduction plan, several Board members were livid: “the Board then just yielded [to the two-year plan], but said you’ll be gone, we’ll take care of it. . . . Deficit budget meant a trigger and there would be a state financial manager appointed. And I’m going to get you, you’ll be gone before they get here.” (R. 60-3, Calloway Dep., at 1630–31.)