JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There is new information about the future of FSCJ and its top brass.
This week four high-ranking officials were suspended for awarding Pell Grants to students who didn't qualify. So who's responsible for the nearly $5 million mistake?
Action News has also learned there is talk of President Steven Wallace's departure. We obtained several pages of documents from FSCJ regarding what could happen if the president leaves and how much it will cost taxpayers. They all point to a short term tenure for president, Steven Wallace.
One trustee wrote, "our college prez will announce his retirement." She also promised to work to get Wallace a good severance package. According to the documents, here's a breakdown of how much it would cost. If Dr. Wallace is terminated with cause, it will cost more than $361 thousand . If it's without cause, it's almost $715,000. A voluntary termination costs nearly $800,000. If he's terminated without cause, the severance would cost more than $850,000.
In the email from board of trustee Suanne Thamm, she was fired up about the departure talks, saying "I would welcome a board fight." She even went after Governor Rick Scott, saying she doesn't support him. Thamm made the comment in the email, "Even lipstick won't help the current pig."
We did talk with Thamm and she said the email was to a personal friend and sent from the wrong account. She said she's embarrassed, and meant the pig comment to be funny.
Dr. Wallace just signed a new contract with the college. It's worth $328,242 a year for the next 4 years. It expires in 2016.
Under Dr. Wallace's leadership, the school has been in trouble in recent months. Seventeen hundred students were wrongly approved for Pell grants. Now the school has to repay $4.7 million of your tax money.
If Dr. Wallace leaves with the highest severance package plus the money owed from Pell grant mistakes, the total cost for taxpayers is around $5.5 million.
All of this is upsetting to students who are just trying to learn.
"I'm thinking with so many issues, the president probably should resign," said one sophomore.
We talked to the chair of the board of trustees. All she would say is a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and she has invited the media to be there.
The college has also asked local attorney Hank Coxe to advise them on all of this. Our calls to him were not returned.
In a statement, Governor Scott says he is concerned that a lack of management and financial oversight has hurt students at the college. Scott has called for a top-down review of all the leadership and spending at the college.
