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REBECCA CATALANELLOHeather Fiorentino's records show she was paid by the district while on state business elsewhere.
NEW PORT RICHEY - On 19 separate occasions, state Rep. Heather Fiorentino indicated she was working in Pasco County schools at the same time state records show she was on legislative business elsewhere.
The Pasco County school superintendent candidate billed the school district for at least 96 hours - about 13 workdays - that she also reported she was working as a legislator, according to records spanning 21/2 years through May 2003.
She received $2,437 from the district for those claimed hours, according to her hourly pay rate. And she got at least $48 in meal reimbursements from the state Legislature on days her school time cards show she was working locally.
Fiorentino said Wednesday that the state travel reimbursement records often are filled out by her staff and can be misleading - a "mish-mash" of imprecise record-keeping. She said the travel forms are often filled out weeks or months after the travel. And though she signed the forms stating that "this claim is true and in every material matter" conforms with state law, she said the travel forms are in error and the school district records are accurate.
"I have nothing to hide. ... My only thing I've done wrong is that I took John Long at his word and didn't document everything," she said Wednesday, referring to her political challenger's chief supporter, superintendent John Long.
Long said Wednesday that he hadn't seen the state records in question, but he said it sounded like Fiorentino ought to reimburse either the state or the district for double-dipping.
"I think if she claims she was here and she also is claiming reimbursement in Tallahassee, she has a problem," Long said. "And I don't think you can blame that on your staff."
Fiorentino, 46, is in a heated contest with school finance chief Chuck Rushe, 55, to replace Long, who is retiring. Long last week questioned a Fiorentino statement that her legislative duties "generally force me to take an unpaid leave up to three times per week" this time of year. He took a look at her personal leave time from August to November and found she rarely took unpaid leave in that period.
A teacher since 1984 and former Pasco County Teacher of the Year, Fiorentino was given a special assignment at the district offices in Land O'Lakes when she was elected to the legislature in 1998. The idea was to give her a more flexible work schedule.
With her legislative duties slowing, Long recently asked Fiorentino to move back into a school. Fiorentino called the move political and requested extended unpaid leave through November.
Long said he monitored his travel reimbursements closely while serving in the Legislature: "I think you're going to find mine pretty darn clean."
He said if there are any errors, he would reimburse the state.
According to Fiorentino's records:
There were 10 days when she received district payment for entire 7.5-hour workdays when her legislative records stated she was out of town. Fiorentino said Wednesday that in some cases she ended up leaving for Tallahassee late in the day or else she came back a day early.
"You hear that you're going to be gone all day," she said of the legislative schedule. And then, things change. Meetings get canceled, she said.
On two occasions, the records indicated she got paid by the district for attending meetings in Tampa as a legislator.
"My role as a legislator and my role as a district employee - very closely intertwined," she said. "There's only one body here. I wear two hats. You can't tear them apart."
Fiorentino said she got verbal permission from a district supervisor to get paid for both when that happened.
On Dec. 10, 2002, school records show Fiorentino working from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The legislative form she signed 10 days later indicates she left New Port Richey at 7 a.m., met with House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and went through training. She detailed $18 in meals for that day, $61.59 per diem for lodging and $83.53 for a rental car.
Fiorentino said Wednesday that she thought that was a day she had car troubles. She thinks she worked a full day for the schools, rented a car and headed for Tallahassee later in the afternoon.
"Don't you think it's odd that this is now coming up?" Fiorentino said. Now that she's running for office against Rushe, whom she calls Long's "best friend and the anointed one," she claims she's being treated differently by the district administration.
Asked about the issue Wednesday, Rushe said it was Fiorentino's own statements last week that brought her use of personal leave time into question.
"If it's true, that's double-dipping," Rushe said.
The matter is sure to become an issue in a race that already has pitted Long against political heavyweight Sen. Mike Fasano, a fervent Fiorentino supporter and friend.