Jackson Free Press

A few months ago, The Clarion-Ledger ran a splashy Sunday A1 story about alleged financial mismanagement at the school district Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Cedrick Gray formerly managed. The story, which other Jackson news outlets picked up and recirculated, referenced an ongoing probe by the Tennessee state comptroller's office. The comptroller released the resulting audit of Gray's former Fayette County School District--and other Fayette County government agencies--last week.

The allegations, which whiffed of sloppy management and cronyism on Gray's part, were not insignificant. On Gray's watch, the district's cash reserves went from $1.3 million to less than $200,000, mostly due to mistakenly paying the employees' share of insurance contributions. Auditors also noted the district failed to follow competitive bidding procedures for office equipment.

The audit generated a new round of sensational headlines, led by Jackson's daily newspaper. In its initial story about it, the Ledger seized on the fact that auditors issued findings and boldly declared the audit to be evidence that "JPS Superintendent Gray's former district broke state laws."

But a closer examination of the report reveals that auditors never said the district broke any laws. In fact, audits are rarely so explicit. The Tennessee audit notes "deficiencies were noted in the maintenance of general cash ledger accounts" that were not in accordance with the Tennessee Code Annotated.

Eventually, even the Ledger realized that the irresponsibility of intimating that Gray broke the law was a stretch, and it toned down the headline of its story to "Audit cites fiscal misdeeds at JPS leader's former district."

But that's still only part of the story.

Had anyone bothered to read the entire Fayette County audit, they would have seen that the comptroller pretty much issued findings--some material--against every department in the county, from the mayor's and sheriff's office, to the register of deeds and public works.

But by then the damage was done. Television news outlets, prone as they are to taking their cues from the print media, ran with the Ledger's Gray-broke-the-law meme. In turn, JPS Board President Monica Gilmore-Love put out a statement saying the board is monitoring events in Tennessee as they unfold.

Certainly, the way Dr. Gray handled the budget at his old district is relevant to his new role at JPS, an under-resourced and shrinking district that's seen inconsistent if not lackluster leadership in recent years. And with less than a year under his belt managing a school district 10 times the size of Fayette County, people have a right to know if Jackson's kids and JPS finances are in capable hands.

People also have the right to get complete and accurate information from their media. In the case of Dr. Gray, that hasn't happened, yet.

Read the Fayette County audit document at jfp.ms/FayetteAudit.