By Carl Fish

Winter Haven, Florida – Allegations continue to mount over Polk State College’s controversial $125,000 request to the Polk State College Foundation, with new documents and board communications raising questions about transparency, governance, and whether both trustees and Foundation board members were given the full picture. Foundation Director of Finance Joanie Malone, who detailed the events in a written timeline and emailed to PSC District Board of Trustee members and PSC Foundation members, is now being regarded by several observers as a whistleblower.

As the Daily Ridge previously reported, the college approached the Foundation’s executive committee in May seeking up to $125,000 in unrestricted funds to help students remain enrolled. While just under $51,000 of that request was ultimately used, Foundation board members voiced concern about how the request was handled and pressed for a full accounting.

When Daily Ridge first sought answers about this recent matter, the only information provided by the college was a short written statement from District Board of Trustees Chair Ann Barnhart. In that response, Barnhart said: “It would not be appropriate for either Polk State College or its Foundation to address this situation without an accurate and independent review of what occurred and to have those facts presented in a written report.”

However, multiple concerned Foundation board members later forwarded the full version of Barnhart’s email. In that longer message, Barnhart again stressed that “no one should comment publicly without facts,” but at the same time she repeatedly speculated that the information being circulated was inaccurate. Her assertions of inaccuracy stand in contrast to her own acknowledgment that no independent review has taken place, raising questions about how such judgments could be made without one.

At the same time, the internal timelines presented allege that Polk State President Dr. Angela Garcia Falconetti and senior administrators selected which students would receive assistance and directed staff not to put certain details in writing. According to one account, Malone prepared documentation that questioned the college’s handling of the funds, but was prevented from presenting it to the Foundation’s executive committee before a vote was taken.

In a candid email to board members, Malone described a climate of “fear and retaliation” and warned that staff felt silenced. “We are feeling anxious, fearing retaliation, and facing accusations from our leadership,” she wrote. “We feel as though we are being silenced, and our data and words are being twisted to create a false narrative.” She added that she believed in “100% transparency” with the Foundation board and expressed frustration that key details were not shared.

POLK STATE COLLEGE FINANCE DIRECTOR – JOANIE MALONE TIMELINE DOCUMENT

While Polk State College officials initially framed the $125,000 request as a one-time assistance measure tied to software transition issues, the new allegations suggest that the assistance was directed in ways that boosted the college’s reported full-time enrollment (FTE) numbers. That has fueled claims that the administration sought to make FTE appear stronger in response to Trustee Ashley Bell-Barnett’s public questioning of enrollment declines. Internal accounts further allege that Dr. Falconetti instructed staff not to put sensitive details in writing, relying instead on verbal or text communication.

This is not the first time Polk State’s administration has faced questions about transparency. Earlier this year, Daily Ridge reported on the accidental exposure to real Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal data. An incident the college rationalized was only available to “trained staff”. A whistleblower in that case advised they should never have had access to that information. The college administration struggled to fully explain if any investigation into how much Personal Identifiable Information (PII) was viewed and specifically by whom. In that case the college, by its own admission, only reported the incident to the Risk Management Consortium. That entity is not a body that would govern the accidental exposure of PII.

In another case, mold issues in campus facilities went unaddressed until a whistleblower bypassed administration and contacted state officials, prompting action. Taken together with the Foundation funding dispute, these episodes have raised persistent concerns among staff, board members, and the community about how Polk State’s leadership handles accountability and oversight.