The Chief Auditor of the Broward school district is keeping his post after a school board member attempted to oust him, saying he showed incompetence, gross insubordination and misconduct.
Board member Allen Zeman, a county-wide at-large representative, planted the motion to terminate Dave Rhodes with cause following a recent evaluation of his performance. While Rhodes received marks of effective or better from all other board members, Zeman said he needed significant improvement.
Zeman was the only member who voted to terminate Rhodes at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Among his complaints, listed in the motion, were allegations that Rhodes was unable to complete audits in a timely manner, misreported vending sales in a district middle school, used performance factors not approved by the board and more.
"The core issue isn't just the facts that have been presented, it's maintaining public trust," Zeman said at the meeting. "Based on what I have read and what I have learned, it is clear to me that terminating the Chief auditor's contract is necessary to restore and preserve that trust."
Rhodes maintained there is no reason to fire him with cause.
Audit Committee Chairman Bob Mayersohn said at the meeting he and the other members of the committee support Rhodes.
"Mr. Rhodes has, in my opinion, the highest degree of ethics [and] integrity," Mayersohn said. "He is somebody who cares about what he does. He's open, he's transparent and he has elevated the auditing process."
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Other board members were unmoved by Zeman's motion, saying that although they agreed there was room for improvement, there was no clear evidence to his allegations.
In an 8-1 vote, Rhodes kept his job.
" I just think that it is a bad idea to have someone who has received an overall 'effective' to then turn around and bring up an item to fire them," board chair Debra Hixon said. " Who would wanna work here if this is how we treat our employees?"
Zeman then attempted to have Rhodes fired without cause, but that motion also failed.
Zeman is known for taking strong positions before the board, such as wanting to increase the number of schools to be closed as part of the Redefining Our Schools initiative.
A proposal to develop an action plan to address concerns from board members for Rhodes did pass. It was introduced by board member Rebecca Thompson.
