BOSTON — The former head of the North Middlesex Regional School District is being accused of violating conflict-of-interest laws by voting to transfer $5.5 million to an educational non-profit four weeks before he took a job there.
The state Ethics Commission has promised hearings within 90 days.
As North Middlesex superintendent James McCormick served on the board of directors of the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative. As such, he voted to approve the payment of $5.5 million to the Merrimack Education Center, a private, non-profit organization on whose board of directors McCormick also served.
The commission alleges that at the time of the vote McCormick was negotiating with, or was close to a deal with, the center for employment. McCormick cast his vote on June 5, 2006, and began working for the center on July 1, 2006, the commission alleges.
State law does not allow municipal employees from acting for personal benefit.
The collaborative and center have been under scrutiny since several state agencies reported that the organizations, under then-director John Barranco, may have misspent up to $32 million in taxpayer money. Barranco is accused of misusing millions himself, using the money to renovate and decorate his Lake Winnipesaukee and Florida vacation homes.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Sun.
