(Afton, Iowa) – (UPDATED) – A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found a custodian hired to clean the preschool rooms in a southwest Iowa school district was paid for over 300 hours when he did not work. The Early Childhood Center is located on the East Union Community School District’s campus in Afton. According to a report released by the state auditor, the center’s director was not satisfied with the cleaning done by school custodians, so she hired her son in August of 2020 to clean the preschool area. After a tip last summer, district officials confirmed via security video that Hope Hall had clocked in for her son and Grant Hall was seen on video arriving to work several hours later. District officials fired the Halls. The state auditor’s special investigation concluded Grant Hall was paid for 217 regular hours and 85 hours of overtime he did not work. That’s about 44-hundred dollars of improper payroll payments over two years according to the auditor’s report.

The state auditor recommends that East Union Schools develop policies to prevent the appearance of favoritism and conflicts of interest when a relative of a district employee is hired and that relative is their supervisor.

A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Special Interest Reports.