Polk County School District

Bribery trial to begin in October

The trial involving M.M. Parrish Construction and its executive vice president, Lloyd Whann, is expected to last about three weeks.

M.M. Parrish Construction, a Gainesville-based firm, has received more than $100 million worth of business from the Polk County School Board.

The trial means that current and former top administrators in the Polk County School District will likely be called as witnesses. A list of witnesses will be released a week before the trial.

"There have been no subpoenas, to my knowledge," said Wes Bridges, Polk County School Board attorney. "I think it's a foregone conclusion that district staff will be called as witnesses."

Bridges said district officials, such as former Superintendent Gail McKinzie, who dealt with Williams and were aware of construction projects likely would be called as witnesses.

He said the U.S. Attorney's Office would prepare witnesses before any testimony.

Federal prosecutors say the company and Whann bribed former district official Bob Williams with gifts worth more than $50,000 to get favorable treatment for its business interests.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara said during a status hearing Thursday in Tampa that lawyers from both sides will meet at 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 to discuss evidence brought forward by the prosecution.

Larry Turner, a lawyer for Whann, and lawyers for the company said that the U.S. Attorney's Office produced more than 1,000,000 documents in digital and paper form.

Turner described the indictment as broad and requested that the prosecutors be more specific in allegations against his client. Prosecutors said the description of allegations against the company and Whann were narrow.

Earlier this year, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set. Williams is the School District's former assistant superintendent for facilities and operations. He resigned in January 2009.

Prosecutors say bribes occurred from 2004 to 2008.

The gifts included fishing trips, vacations, and remodeling and construction for Williams' home, according to a federal grand jury indictment. The construction and remodeling totaled about $40,000, and the vacation trips and other valuables were worth about $14,000, the indictment states.

His plea agreement states that he used his authority to make favorable decisions for Parrish's business interests. Williams convinced the School Board to stick with a $30 million project to construct a middle school, saying the project was too far along to cancel, the agreement states.

Polk County School District Officials Expect More Lawsuits due to ...

, Polk County schools expect to see an increase in the filing of lawsuits because a cap on lawsuit damages will be raised by law on October 1. The cap on damage awards was $100,000 and will increase to $200,000. The county school district employs more people than any other entity in Polk County with 13,000 employees overseeing 93,000 students.

What kinds of lawsuits are they bracing against? Anything from a fender bender with a school bus, a slip and fall, also known as premises liability, an auto accident on school property, or an injury during physical education class. The district tells the paper about 25 lawsuits are filed every year and settlements come out of the general fund which is generated from property taxes.

The school district claims that the $740,500 paid out in 2010 to settle individual claims could have been better spent on the classroom. At the same time the district is receiving $13.5 million less from the general fund in 2011 than in the previous year. The district is self-insured and pays its own claims. Students are insured through School Insurance of Florida. With money tight the school district says it will try to minimize litigation costs. That is something that a parent would hope would be done regardless.

Additional training on how to keep schools safe will be conducted such as cleaning up any water that is spilled outside of a vending machine. Inflatable bouncing houses will no longer be allowed on school property and trips by school personnel to the bank to make deposits will be replaced by armored vehicles to lessen the possibility of an accident while traveling between the school and the bank.

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20110807/NEWS/110809529?Title=School-Officials-Expect-Increase-in-Lawsuits

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