Michigan board suspends superintendent, three others. (Notebook: education information from schools, business, research and professional organizations).

A school superintendent and three top Michigan school officials in a district outside Detroit are on paid administrative leave after an investigation revealed almost $1 million in possible financial irregularities.

The River Rouge school board on Oct. 3 suspended district Superintendent Benjamin Benford II, Chief Financial Director Marie Miller, Athletic Director Joseph Emery Jr. and Community Relations Director Anna Riggins. A former Wayne County prosecutor alleges some contracts were awarded without competitive bids in past years; the superintendent was paid $100,000 more than his authorized salary during the past three years, and the district wrote two checks in 1999 and 2000 totaling $164,000 for television studio equipment that the studio advisor says he never received.

The school board hired former prosecutor George Ward in May to investigate after Miller alerted the board to financial irregularities and told them the superintendent failed to act when she notified him about the missing equipment. Michigan State Police are also investigating.

General counsel Charles Wycoff says Miller was put on leave even though she alerted officials to the problem to provide stability.

"In the political climate that followed it would be difficult to stabilize the administration if there was anyone present who was affiliated with the situation," Wycoff said.

An interim superintendent, Wilhelmina Hall, who previously worked for Wayne State University and as an interim superintendent in another Michigan district, was appointed while school board officials decide how to proceed. Benford, a 30-year district veteran, and school board officials could not be reached for comment.

"The good news is that the school board and its chairman exercised real supervisory control. The board did what you'd expect a corporate board to do, took charge, started an investigation and is now taking disciplinary action," says Ward. "The bad news is that there is some money missing."