Elmhurst D205 Inquiry Far Less Than Argo's

ELMHURST, IL – Last week, Argo Community High School released a detailed report of its former superintendent's use of a credit card for porn, among other things.

A year ago, Elmhurst School District 205 encountered its own credit card scandal. Outside of Patch's reporting, residents did not get a full accounting.

At a Dec. 10 meeting, the school board's president, Athena Arvanitis, acknowledged the arrest of Todd Schmidt, the just-resigned district's facilities director, who was accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his mother.

And Arvanitis promised a third-party audit that would review Schmidt's handling of the district's finances and resources.

Shortly after the December board meeting, Patch reported that Schmidt spent about $50,000 on his district-issued credit card for personal items such as booze, cigars, restaurant meals, groceries, and payments to country clubs and sororities.

He reimbursed the district monthly, essentially getting short-term loans on the government's dime.

A few months later, Chicago-based Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams released a four-page report on its investigation. That report only mentioned Schmidt once, in the context of who was replacing him.

The auditor's report examined credit card procedures generally and made recommendations.

But it said nothing about how Schmidt was able to use his credit card for expenses that were plainly outside his government role.

To this day, the district has yet to publicly acknowledge who, if anyone, approved his spending and loans. The relevant documents included no signatures.

Elmhurst's inquiry is a far cry from Argo High School's. Argo hired a law firm and an accounting firm to get to the bottom of the former superintendent's spending.

According to Argo's investigation, the school's top finance official took a hands-off approach to credit card spending, contrary to his longtime predecessor. The superintendent's credit card spending spiked.

The investigation said the former superintendent worked with a finance employee to create false invoices to hide the porn sending.

The investigators produced a 111-page report. And this came from a school district quite different from Elmhurst's: It has a quarter of Elmhurst's enrollment, with two-thirds of students considered low-income.

In Elmhurst, Schmidt was a key official. He oversaw $168 million in building projects approved in a 2018 referendum.

Last December, Patch asked the police department about its approach to the Schmidt case. The police department said the audit would determine its involvement.

Situations similar to Schmidt's in other towns have resulted in "official misconduct" charges.

In both cases, the district produced no documents, meaning officials have not written the police about it. So Patch sent the audit and the district's list of Schmidt's personal spending to the city.

In recent months, the department has confirmed it is looking into the matter.

In February, Schmidt's supervisor, Chris Whelton, assistant superintendent of finance, entered a resignation agreement with the school board after nearly 14 years in the position.