Minnesota district escapes criminal charges after ‘concerning’ credit card purchases lacking documentation

After investigating a Minnesota district’s financial records, the county’s attorney has declined to file criminal charges but still rebuked officials’ mismanagement.

“(Olmsted) County Attorney Michael Walters called the district’s previous spending habits ‘concerning’ but said there is insufficient evidence that district employees stole or embezzled (Byron Public Schools) funds,” Gray Media’s KTTC.com reported.

As previously reported by The Lion, the Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha confirmed last year that the district lacked proper supporting documentation for almost $60,000 in purchases and more than $4,000 in gift cards.

“We don’t have an indication that it was fraudulent; however, this is a big risk,” she said at the time. “This is how fraud can happen.”

The district’s new superintendent, Nate Walbruch, announced efforts to improve documentation practices following the audit – such as replacing all credit cards with purchase cards.

“We started making changes literally the first day,” he said. “In order for a person to make a purchase, we essentially have to approve the purchase before they can even run the card through.”

Walbruch acknowledged past failures by the district, saying it is working “to rebuild trust and transparency with the Byron community,” according to KTTC.com.

“The investigation by the Minnesota State Auditor follows many accusations in the community about the mismanagement of school funds. In 2024, a miscalculation led to more than $1 million in budget cuts.”

‘Lack of transparency about financial mismanagement’

A substantial number of U.S. districts released budget shortfalls in 2025 – including California, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois.

These shortfalls, often underestimated at first but then revised upward, tend to stem from “incompetence, bad accounting and administration’s inability to say no,” said Ruth B. Turner, Montclair Public Schools superintendent in New Jersey.

Turner’s district illustrated this trend, originally estimating its deficit in July as $11 million but later admitting it was more like $18 million.

Many of these districts have struggled to meet rising expenses after COVID-19 pandemic funding ended and enrollment plunged nationwide.

Another recent example involves Wisconsin, where audits of Milwaukee Public Schools found a $46 million budget deficit.

The district has announced plans to cut spending and pay back the shortfall at a Feb. 10 committee meeting.

However, attendees argued such contingency measures could have been avoided through greater fiscal accountability.

“You say this budget is a reflection of your values,” said Will Fitzgerald, a special education teacher, “so where does lack of transparency about financial mismanagement fall into your values?”