HAYSVILLE — The superintendent of Haysville schools has quit following an inquiry into his district credit card.
The school board accepted a request from Supt. H. Lynn Stevens to be put on paid leave immediately. He will retire July 1.
During the past two years, the district's American Express card issued to Stevens regularly showed thousands of dollars spent monthly in restaurants, flower shops, drug stores and other locations, according to school district records.
School board member Barbara Walters said Wednesday that the board grew concerned about the credit card bills after Seth Konkel, a student at Campus High School and school board candidate, requested the records.
Konkel said he had asked for the records of the American Express cards used by school administrators.
Records showed that from Jan. 13 to Feb. 13, Stevens' American Express card registered $12,087 in charges. The bill showed 25 charges at restaurants in Wichita and New Orleans, totaling $1,016.93.
Stevens reimbursed the district $610.61 of the total month's bill, according to school district records.
Other credit card records show that one visit to the Crab House Seafood Restaurant in Orlando, Fla., on April 1, 2000, cost $501.09. Two nights later, the card recorded a tab of $359.45 at Italianni's restaurant in Orlando.
The credit card bills are approved by the school board each month, but Walters said the board members have not seen more than the total broken into categories for office expenses, supplies and travel.
Stevens has been superintendent in Haysville since 1988. He was assistant superintendent in Rose Hill from 1982 to 1984 then superintendent there from 1984 to 1988.
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