NEW YORK – Procurement credit cards are issued to New York City Department of Education employees so they can purchase school supplies, according to a published report.

But several of those employees used their so-called “P-cards” for personal or inappropriate purchases in recent years, according to an internal investigation conducted by the school district.

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Some of them were fined for their misuse of school district funds, but the fines in several instances are noticeably less than the amount of tax money that was wasted.

For instance, DOE official Matthew Manner used his P-card to pay for a celebration dinner for school employees to mark the end of the academic year in 2014, according to Dnainfo.com.

The dinner, which included a $1,400 lecture on jazz music and a live jazz performance, cost more than $4,000, the news report said. That came out to about $114 per guest, despite a DOE rule that limits food and drink staff meeting costs to $8 per person, the news report said.

Manner was fined $750 for the incident, according to the news report. His supervisor, who helped plan the event, was fined $1,000. Who’s going to cover for the rest of the $2,000-plus dollars that were wasted on the dinner?

Then there’s this:

“Derek Jones, a former leader of one of the DOE’s networks, admitted to using his P-card on 13 occasions between 2011 and 2012 for nearly $80 worth of personal drinks at places like Starbucks and Hana Japanese,” Dnainfo.com reported.

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“He also violated the DOE’s limit on spending at staff meetings when he used his P-card for a $3,655 end-of-year dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse in Midtown, which he attended with 27 principals and assistant principals in his network. The meal coast roughly $130 per person.”

Jones was only fined $1,500, far less than what his infraction cost the district.

DOE official Sharon Rachelson used her card to purchase a $1,858 meal for herself and colleagues at a restaurant in 2010, which came out to about $53 per person, according to Dnainfo.com. She was fined $500.

The internal investigation resulted in action on the part of the school district – after a great deal of money was obviously wasted.

“…The DOE created a committee including representatives of the Office of Auditor General, Division of Financial Operations, Office of General Counsel, and Office of School Support to ensure more effective P-card oversight,” Dnainfo.com wrote.

“As a result, the DOE instituted new mandatory trainings in P-card use as well as new, improved instruction, support and oversight of employees when they receive a P-card, school officials said.”

We can only hope the accountability efforts have worked, because New York taxpayers, parents and students were clearly ripped off.