OLIVIA, MINN. – A rural school district here is grappling with a projected $700,000 budget shortfall and is working with police after allegedly discovering numerous financial irregularities.
The budget deficit comes from escalating transportation costs, payroll discrepancies and a series of unpaid bills, Superintendent Jim Menton of the Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian (BOLD) school district [said at a board meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6bX_Ry0ZRM) last month.
The financial irregularities include a series of bills that had not been paid, Menton said, including a $90,000 charge for landscaping services completed years ago.
“We started to find out about these late last summer when concerns came to light about our former business manager’s handling of money,” Menton said.
Menton did not mention the name of the business manager while addressing the school board.
But police in Olivia are looking for details from a 48-year-old woman who worked at BOLD from May 1, 2021, to Sept. 5, 2024, and may have been using school funds to purchase personal items, according to a search warrant described as being connected to a “serious embezzlement/theft allegation.”
Some $11,528 worth of questionable purchases on the woman’s school-issued credit card included expenses at Buffalo Wild Wings, Walmart and Target, as well as auto loan payments and energy bills, the search warrant application said.
Jason Krumheuer, Olivia police chief, confirmed his department is “currently investigating financial irregularities brought to our attention by the BOLD School District,” but declined to comment on it in an email Monday. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not name suspects who have not been charged.