A DeKalb County school board member with a theft record stepped down as chairman of the district’s billion-dollar budget committee after questioning from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Board chairman Tom Bowen appointed board member Jesse “Jay” Cunningham as chairman of the budget committee this weekend.
After answering questions from the AJC about his personal finances, Cunningham said he decided he no longer wanted the position. He will still serve on the committee but not as chairman.
“I withdrew my name after talking to you,” Cunningham told the AJC Monday evening. “I just think it is the best interest for the district and I’m moving forward.”
Cunningham, who was re-elected to District 5 in November, initially had no comment Monday.
Last year, an AJC investigation found that Cunningham pleaded guilty to stealing $12,500 in bank deposits from a Decatur McDonald’s in 1982. Cunningham was the store manager at the time.
Cunningham also came under fire last year when another AJC investigation found Cunningham’s family business, Zo’s Pizza, sold $22,000 worth of pizza to DeKalb schools since he was elected. That business relationship is one of several concerns that led to the current review of the school system’s accreditation.
Court records also show Cunningham’s school board wages have been garnished to pay several outstanding debts, including seven collections to Ford Motor Co. The debts to Ford total more than $134,000, in addition to debts with Georgia Receivables, according to the records.
Bowen said he did not expect Cunningham’s personal financial problems to have any impact on the district, but he understood that Cunningham did not want his finances publicized any more.
“As an individual board member or committee chair, he can’t authorize a single dime to be spent or not spent,” Bowen said Monday. “His personal issues would not carry over into committee discussions of the budget. His personal issues existed when he was chair before and when we passed a budget with no millage increase.”
The budget committee will be tasked with drafting this year’s budget, which some board members say includes an anticipated $50 million shortfall. The budget committee will make recommendations on cuts or a proposed tax increase, but the full board will make the final decision in the spring.
The full board also must approve all expenditures over $50,000. The superintendent approves all expenses under that amount, Bowen said.
Cunningham makes $21,060 a year as a school board member. He was one of seven board members last year who voted to take a voluntary 10 percent pay cut. The other two board members make the full $23,400, district spokesman Jeff Dickerson said.
Committee chairs do not receive an additional stipend.
Cunningham has previously said that his crimes occurred decades ago and he has served his time. Records show Cunningham was sentenced six years on probation under Georgia’ first offender program.
In 1982, Cunningham told investigators that he took McDonald’s money from several bank deposits for a period of several months, according to police and district attorney’s records. Cunningham was arrested after his manager told police he found $11,000 in cash in Cunningham’s gym bag at the Flat Shoals Road restaurant. Police also found cut bank bags in Cunningham’s rental car, records show.
In addition to theft, Cunningham was charged with making a false report to police because he first told officers someone had broken into his rental car and stolen the money.
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