BY ELAINE GOODMAN
Daily Post Correspondent
A $160 birthday cake that former Las Lomitas School District Superintendent Beth Polito charged to a district credit card in August 2022 is one example of a potentially inappropriate gift of public funds identified in a new audit. Polito charged an additional $4,039 to the district card for retirement parties and $325 for gift cards, according to the audit, which was commissioned by the San Mateo County Office of Education. The gift cards were to thank maintenance crews for moving classrooms, the audit said.
The auditors found insufficient evidence to indicate that fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal fiscal practices occurred during a 33-month review period. But the district’s record-keeping for credit card purchases is lacking, the audit said, increasing the chances that fraud could occur. The Las Lomitas school board will hear a presentation on the audit on Wednesday. The school board has 15 days to respond with an action plan.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office is reviewing the audit to see if there’s any evidence of fraud.
Polito came under scrutiny in October 2024, when the school district’s first-ever strike prompted parents to dig through district finances, where they found receipts for stays at luxury hotels and pricey dinners. The district includes Las Lomitas Elementary School in Atherton and La Entrada School in Menlo Park.
Supe’s credit cards revoked
The school board revoked Polito’s district credit cards in December 2024. Polito retired and was replaced as superintendent by Erik Burmeister on May 1.
The audit, conducted by the state-funded Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, covers the period from July 1, 2022, through March 31, 2025. FCMAT looked at Polito’s credit card spending over the 33 months and sampled credit card charges by five other district employees in eight of those months.
Altogether, 504 credit card transactions were reviewed, totaling $201,956. Polito had 276 transactions totaling $138,319.
Most school districts have detailed policies for employee credit card use and procedures for explaining charges. In contrast, Las Lomitas has “a lower documentation standard than what would be considered normal for a school district,” the audit said.
That makes it harder to determine if an expense has an educational purpose.
The auditors found 156 credit card charges – totaling $63,018 – that were missing receipts among the six employees examined. Polito didn’t have receipts for 115 of her credit card charges, totaling $56,404.
“Without a detailed receipt, proof that alcohol was not purchased cannot be shown,” the audit said.
What’s an appropriate gift?
And some of Polito’s credit card purchases had an “unknown educational purpose,” the auditors said, because Polito couldn’t remember what they were for. Those include a $658 Hotels.com purchase in December 2022 and another for $588 in March 2023.
State law allows school districts to make awards to employees for “superior accomplishments,” but leaves it to the districts to come up with specific policies. A district policy might say that it’s OK to give teachers flowers when they retire, for example, or recognize all employee birthdays in a particular month with a cake to boost morale.
But other purchases could be considered a gift of public funds, which state law prohibits. The audit said those might include a birthday cake for an individual employee; get-well or sympathy flowers; and staff parties without a team-building or educational purpose.
While the district could allow a gift card for a “predefined accomplishment” and with a set limit, the audit said, gift cards or flowers “where an educational or public purpose is not defined” wouldn’t be allowed.
“If someone is ill or has some milestone event in their life, and staff want to take up a collection to purchase flowers, they may do so if they do not use public funds,” the auditors noted.
The auditors found transactions with “characteristics of possible gift of public funds” totaling $6,551.
Those included Polito’s purchase of a $160 custom birthday cake as part of a $10,812 leadership retreat at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz in August 2022. Attendees weren’t allowed to bring in a cake from outside the hotel, according to the audit, so the cake was purchased from the hotel.
Also listed as a possible gift of public funds was a $1,035 charge for a retirement party at the Left Bank in February 2024 and $3,004 for another Left Bank retirement party a month later.
The audit found that another employee used a district credit card to buy a $71 condolence gift for a staff member and $67 in flowers for a sick worker.
The auditors discovered instances where Polito reimbursed the district for personal charges on her district credit card. One of those was a Saturday night stay at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in October 2022 for $472.09. Another was one night of a five-night stay at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in January 2023, with a $554.35 reimbursement.
Polito also reimbursed the district $107.57 for wine and an in-room movie while she was staying at the Four Seasons Embarcadero in San Francisco in March 2023.
As a credentialed teacher myself (not in this district) I wanted to comment that this is absolutely blows my mind! It’s a very easy problem to solve. In August, teachers can donate a certain amount of money for the school fund. This would cover flowers, cards, cakes, etc…If it does not directly and immediately affect a student in some way- it should be flagged. These cards shouldn’t be just hanging out in handbags? They should be kept under a safe at the district office and checked out as needed. I guarantee the funds were used for clothing, alcohol, dating or family stays. I’ve never heard of any hotel not permitting a cake to come into the hotel from outside? Most teachers (surrounding districts) pay directly out of pocket for supplies or items to use in the classroom. I can’t believe that the funding for this credit card doesn’t have a limit! Obnoxious elitism.