County prosecutors have launched a probe to determine if School Board member Charlene Hardin broke the law when she took a taxpayer-funded junket to Philadelphia but then failed to attend a national conference on school safety.
"I would consider this to be at the fact-finding stage," said Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern on Tuesday. "We'll have to see where it leads."
Lovern said the white-collar unit in his office is working with Milwaukee Public Schools auditors to find out what exactly happened -- and didn't happen -- on Hardin's trip to Philadelphia to attend the annual conference of the National Association of School Safety & Law Enforcement Officers on July 14-16.
Two officials with the organization told No Quarter this week that Hardin and Lolita Pearson, a data-processing secretary at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, spent no more than five minutes at the three-day event. They said the two attended no seminars or meetings.
| Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas