Vidrine Scandal: A Year Later

It has been a year since the public was made aware of a pending investigation of then Monroe Schools Superintendent Brent Vidrine's alleged "misappropriation" of retirement payments. A year later, the former superintendent has been arrested for what some have alleged to have been crimes committed without having to pay for his alleged transgressions as some others in the system have done. Vidrine has yet to answer to the four charges against him that include, felony, malfeasance in office and 2 counts of falsifying records, that must seem as a "black eye" on the school board and how Vidrine was able to allegedly do what he has been accused of doing. The fact that two investigations being done by the Louisiana State Legislative Auditor’s Office and Workplace of the South respectively showcased the seriousness of what Vidrine allegedly did between 2021 and 2022. Those findings by the Auditor’s Office would result in Vidrine being arrested over retirement payments allegedly made to the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) that were not accurate. Regarding one such payment of $48,194.92 to TRSL, the agency had no record of receiving a payment. Another allegedly questionable payment for creditable service to TRSL of $67,422.71 was allegedly made by the superintendent, but was found to be $47,422.71, which was $20,000 less than it should have been. People have been wondering how one individual could do so much without any oversight. Were others involved? One can ask whether the school board was lax in its responsibility as Vidrine, in the words of the Workplace representative, "wrote his own contract", and made questionable payments. Some might say it was the "fox guarding the henhouse". Perhaps the biggest question is whether the public will know the whole story concerning Vidrine's alleged misdeeds. Until the public knows, this scandal will be a dark cloud hovering over the Monroe City School Board, even though it seems to be back to business now that a new superintendent is at the helm. One can hope that adequate safeguards are in place, because in all of this, it is the wellbeing of each child in the system that we must not lose sight of, especially when it comes to utilizing the resources of our finances.