CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has requested that the state inspector general investigate the Clarendon County School District over claims of potential financial irregularities.
McMaster wrote a letter Monday to Inspector General Brian Lampkin making the request.
The governor said on April 4, State Rep. Fawn Pedalino, who represents a portion of Clarendon County, delivered binders to his office that claimed to have extensive documentation of the district's operations and fiscal affairs. She also gave the governor other documents and electronic records.
A day later, Pedalino sent his office a letter asking for McMaster to get involved.
The letter does not spell out what the allegations are and McMaster does not specify what he saw in the documents that were sent to him, but he did say he feels it needs an investigation.
"Based on a preliminary review of the materials provided by Representative Pedalino, it appears that the cited concerns regarding 'potential financial irregularities' warrant further analysis," he wrote.
News19 has reached out to Clarendon County School District for comment. Clarendon County's school districts had merged into one school district just last summer.
McMaster does have the authority to request an investigation into local schools and the inspector general the ability to probe them under a new law passed last year. It was already used by McMaster in Richland School District Two.
That investigation led to an inspector general report that took the district to task for some of its expenditures as well as the conduct of its school board. The district is still preparing how to incorporate the report's findings in its policies.