State audit raises questions about McCurtain County program

Tuesday, February 8th 2005, 6:20 am

By: News On 6

IDABEL, Okla. (AP) -- A new state audit questions whether the head of the McCurtain County Educational Co-op attended the business meetings for which he charged his agency $18,000 in expenses.

Auditors could only confirm that Deb Victor attended two of the 31 meetings he claimed he did between October 1st, 2000, and September 30th, 2003. That time period included trips to rodeos in Amarillo, Texas; Durango, Colorado, Gallup, New Mexico and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

They also found that more than $475,000 in excessive or ineligible pay was given to Victor and his staff.

The 60-year-old Victor denies any wrongdoing. He says he and his staff have brought in million of dollars to the area in the past ten years.

The cooperative's mission is to help partnering school districts with guidance programs, career education and drug education/prevention programs.

Board president James Mashburn declined to comment on the report.