Stipends paid to St Joseph School District administrators last year were approved by the school board about seven months after they were paid.  Likewise, the outside legal counsel formally retained Friday by the board appears to have completed his investigation into the stipends.

The St Joseph School Board voted Friday to retain Thomas Mickes, who along with two associates in his firm have already conducted an extensive investigation.

Mickes asserts that the FBI has no jurisdiction. The stipends at the root of the controversy were approved by the school board long after they were paid.

In a report read to the board on Friday, Mickes says a quarter-million dollars in administrative stipends were not against the law. Mickes called them additional compensation for new duties and responsibilities. Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka authorized the payment of about five thousand dollars each to more than 50 administrators in July of 2013. The school board voted to approve the payments in a closed-door meeting in February of 2014.

The stipends were initially approved shortly after Dr. Czerwonka assumed his duties as superintendent. According to the report, Czerwonka “saw a need to increase administrator involvement in community organizations and increase attendance at district evening activities.” Czerwonka consulted with then board president Dr. Dan Colgan, who authorized similar stipends during his tenure as superintendent .

The FBI asserts that if “one drop of federal funds” was placed in the district’s operating funds, there is federal authorization to review all areas of district operations. But the lawyer’s report counters that those federal funds are segregated, and that each of those accounts is audited. Audit reports for the last five years, included in the report from Mickes, disclosed “no significant deficiencies.”

Mickes says the alleged “commingling” of federal and state funds has been the only basis for the feds to get involved in the controversy.

Unless there is some other authority for federal involvement, Mickes reported “it clearly appears that this is a matter for local law enforcement and the State Auditor’s Office.”