Sources: East Haven Little Jackets Director Removed From Job

EAST HAVEN — The director of East Haven's Little Jackets Pre-School Program, who was already on leave after an audit found several problems with how bills were paid, is no longer employed, two sources told Patch Wednesday afternoon.

Cathy Finkle, the wife of a member of the town's Board of Education, is no longer the director of the Little Jackets.

Attempts to reach Board of Education Chairwoman Michele DeLucia and School Superintendent Erica Forti were unsuccessful.

Finkle ran the Little Jackets Pre-School Program, in which auditors said there were sloppy records for tuition collection, incomplete expense reports and the need for an operating budget.

Little Jackets, according to its website, is a child-care facility, that strives each day to provide a safe and nurturing environment for every child.

The website says: "Our emphasis is on an open communication and close collaboration between the staff and the parents and to provide a quality Preschool Program that is accessible and affordable."

The Little Jackets program was audited as part a long awaited forensic audit of how the East Haven school system pays which found numerous issues and makes several recommended changes to try and fix the problems.

The firm of the Shipman and Goodwin was hired by the East Haven school board when it was discovered during the fiscal year that ended in June of 2016, the school board spent $918,765 more than its allotted budgeted of $47.2 million.

The report was only made public after the board voted 5-4 to release it.

The report filed by Shipman and Goodwin, that the Board of Education reviewed criticized the school system for several lax accounting procedures, including poor invoicing, poor accounting follow-up procedures, inconsistent billing, lost work orders, improper outside rental procedures, accounting problems with the Little Jackets program, tuition charge issues, etc.