KODAK, Tenn. — The Tennessee Comptroller's office released a report on July 23 that said officers at a student athletics organization in Kodak "made questionable cash withdrawals" and paid a coach a salary supplement.
It said the Northview Athletic Sideline Club began in 2022 when parents and volunteers started working to support and promote athletics at Northview Junior and Senior Academies. It said during the time the organization was reviewed, it was led by three officers who were not formally given titles and did not form a board of directors.
The report also said the organization had a bank account and collected money from the public by selling concessions at school athletic events, using the money to support athletic programs.
However, the report said from June 2023 through November 2023, former officers made "five questionable cash withdrawals," which totaled around $20,920. The officers indicated that the cash was used to buy items for an auction fundraiser, but did not have documentation for those expenses, according to the report.
"Without supporting documentation for these expenditures, investigators could not determine if the cash withdrawn was used for authorized purposes or exclusively for the benefit of NASC," the report said.
It also said the organization failed to submit fundraiser approval forms for an auction fundraiser during the 2023 fiscal year.
The report also said from August 2023 through December 2023, former officers did not "properly secure or deposit cash collected from the sale of concessions." The report said they kept cash from concessions sales in a plastic container inside the stand and used some of it for gate change during events and to buy other concessions and athletic items.
Investigators could not determine if concession stands were locked and who had access to them, according to the report. The report said collections should be deposited within three business days and bills should never be paid in cash, according to the organization's financial policy.
The report also said former officers wrote three checks totaling $2,500 to supplement the salary of a coach employed by Sevier County Schools.
The report said the organization's financial policy specifically says payments must not be paid directly to coaches, assistant coaches or other employees of the school district. It said salary supplements need to be paid through the Board of Education.
"Failure to make salary supplements through the district increases the risk that employee benefits, tax withholdings, and other required deductions will not be properly accounted for," the comptroller's office report said.
The report also said former officers failed to register as a nonprofit with the Tennessee Secretary of State, or as a school support organization. So, it said Sevier County Schools was not aware Northview Athletic Sideline Club existed until around December 2023.
Sevier County Schools said it did not have a statement about the comptroller's office report.