New Questions About Tulsa School Superintendent Candidate

One of the finalists to be the next superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools faces questions about how many trips she's taken at the public's expense. <br/><br/>A New Hampshire newspaper says Superintendent

Wednesday, June 7th 2006, 10:23 am

By: News On 6

One of the finalists to be the next superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools faces questions about how many trips she's taken at the public's expense.

A New Hampshire newspaper says Superintendent Julia Earl, on the job in Nashua less than a year, has taken seven trips, costing more than $9,000.

News on 6 education reporter Ashli Sims says one of the candidates is making headlines for her taxpayer funded travel.

The Nashua, New Hampshire Telegraph is reporting Doctor Julia Earl was out of town for 40 days during her first nine months as superintendent. The newspaper reports Earl charged more than $9,000 worth of expenses to the cash-strapped school district, which just laid off 100 employees to cut costs.

Tulsa School board president Matt Livingood says Earl called him Tuesday night to tell him about the story. "I can't say that I'm pleased to hear any bad news. I understand she has a very contentious relationship with the press and the city government who funds them and thatâ€™s got to be a difficult struggle for her."

The Telegraph reports Earl has taken seven trips, five to her home state of Texas, where she still has a house and where her children live. The newspaper says Earl traveled to Houston in October, Austin in December and back to Houston in February, two of those trips were listed as education conferences on her reimbursement forms. But the Telegraph says she wasn't registered for conferences on any of those dates.

Earl told the paper she was meeting informally with a group of Texas administrators. The newspaper says taxpayers paid $1,500 for Earl to attend a conference in San Diego, followed by a stop in Texas for a management conference for which she wasnâ€™t registered.

The newspaper says Earl attended a national convention in Chicago with several members of the school board. And finally, she traveled back to Houston for another meeting. Her total travel bill is more than $9,000.

Earl told the News on 6, in a telephone interview she discussed issues like English language learners and student testing during meetings with the Texas administrators. She also told the News on 6, the Nashua school board was aware of her travel and raised no objections. She insists she's worked many nights, weekends, and holidays.

So far, this new information isn't affecting the Tulsa school board's plans to visit Earl in New Hampshire next week. Matt Livingood: â€œIts just additional information that we need to weigh. But I'm not going to act on the basis of a news article when I know there has been a contentious relationship there."

The Nashua Telegraph also reports Doctor Earl owes more than $150,000 in unpaid federal income taxes and property taxes. Earl told the News on 6, â€œher private situation is her private situation", and she's taking care of it.

For more details on Earl's travel spending, weâ€™ve linked to the Nashua Telegraph article.

The Tulsa school board has called a special meeting for Saturday to talk about the superintendentâ€™s search.