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The Prince William Education Association is being placed into a trusteeship by the Virginia Education Association following an external audit that uncovered financial mismanagement and deception at the local union.
Carol Bauer, president of the Virginia Education Association, made the announcement in an email Monday night to members of the Prince William teachers union.
The audit by the state union found “gross financial mismanagement” within the leadership of the local union, which threatened the union’s ability to serve its members, the email said.
Additionally, the audit found the local union had falsified board minutes “in an attempt to cover up the existence of Board-approved spending guidelines.”
Systemic policy violations were identified as a problem, too.
“Officers repeatedly ignored Board-approved financial policies and failed to maintain basic expenditure documentation, all while authorizing full payment for each other’s expenses,” Bauer wrote in the email.
The trustee will be reaching out to Prince William members in the coming days with more information, Bauer said.
In a statement to InsideNoVa, a Virginia Education Association spokesperson confirmed it had placed the Prince William union, one of their local affiliate unions, under a trusteeship.
All member services, including grievance procedures and contract enforcement, will continue uninterrupted under the larger organization’s oversight. The trustee will implement proper financial control and will return the local union to democratic governance once the organization is stabilized, the statement said.
“Your trust was betrayed. Your dues were mismanaged. Your union’s future was jeopardized,” Bauer wrote. “Working together with you, we will rebuild PWEA into the strong, honest union you deserve.”
Prince William union officials did not immediately respond to InsideNoVa’s request for comment.
Dr. Babur Lateef, the Prince William County School Board chairman, told InsideNoVa the news was “very concerning” and a betrayal of trust “at the most basic level.”
“The School Board will continue to operate our collective bargaining agreement in good faith,” Lateef said. “But we have major concerns moving forward regarding the fidelity and integrity of the PWEA.”
Lateef added that anyone who “betrays the trust by mismanaging or possibly stealing” money from teachers, nurses, custodians and other school staff, should be investigated and prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”
