State audit: Former Girard school treasurer paid nearly $900,000 in two years

A newly-released audit of the Girard city schools found its former treasurer, Mark Bello, was paid nearly twice as much as had previously been uncovered after a creative change in contract language. 

21 News was the first to report in a Watchdog Report in 2024 that Bello was paid $461,187 for the fiscal year 2023, which included a base salary of $118,078, but also included an additional $325,918 because, at the time the school board approved a new contract for Bello, a key line was changed. 

Bello's previous contract had allowed for him to receive 2.5 percent of any grants he brought into the district. 

Under his new contract, approved as a part of a retire/rehire agreement in June of 2022, that language was amended to say that Bello would receive one percent of "all  federal, state, and local grants and certain other revenues received by the district." Due to the much larger pot of money Bello would take a percentage of, his salary was inflated dramatically. 

In a new audit released Thursday, it was uncovered that even after Bello resigned in June of 2024 following this information becoming public, the district continued to pay him. 

In fiscal year 2024, Bello received  "$443,568, which include his base pay plus a $312,165 stipend. Additionally, his compensation included a $5,750 car allowance and an $11,146 leave balance payout. The district also paid his pension contribution of more than $30,000."  

Auditor Keith Faber classified the payments as "noncompliance, waste and abuse," and pointed out that the district did not have any policies or controls in place as a part of its retire/rehire practices to protect the district. 

"While not illegal under the law, this was an abuse of public resources that should not have been allowed. The school board was asleep at the wheel and the district's taxpayers paid the price," Faber wrote. 

When contacted about the overpayments last year, school board members insisted they were unaware of the change in contract language, believing Bello would be paid less, not more, than he was paid under his previous contract. 

The auditor's office warns the district they should have outside counsel review retire/rehire contracts to avoid this type of issue, which the district said it will look into doing in the future. 

21 News has left a message for Bello and the superintendent for a response. 

School Board President Vincent Ragozine declined to do an on-camera interview, but the Board of Education provided a statement that said in part, the "District has taken proactive and deliberate steps to strengthen oversight and ensure similar contractual issues don't happen in the future." 

Ragozine added that the district now uses attorneys to review contracts, and tried to exit Bello's agreement but were unable to after an internal investigation.

The district never disclosed publicly that Bello would continue to be paid after his resignation, and said Girard City Schools is working on a response to that.