Two Richmond County school board members are asking that the allegation levied against Superintendent Charles Larke that he loaned out taxpayer money be removed from a list of charges.

More than a month ago, the school board authorized attorney Pete Fletcher to investigate and draw up a list of charges against the superintendent to support his termination. In the process, Mr. Fletcher discovered that more than $600,000 in taxpayer money hade been given out in loans - what Dr. Larke called advance pay - to school employees.

On Monday, board members A.K. Hasan and Barbara Pulliam sent a letter to board President Marion Barnes in care of secretary Candy Beggs, asking that the accusation be removed from the list of charges. The letter requests a poll of board members to build a consensus for removing the charge as a consideration for Dr. Larke's termination.

"Our reasons for this request are as follows: After careful consideration of certain material facts such as Articles in the Colleagues Communiqu, the board's Early Paycheck policy for new teachers and classified employees and a DVD showing Dr. Larke expressing his frustration over the number of requests for Advance Pay or Advance Loans, it seems apparent this practice, while not a board policy is one that has been practiced in open for some time," the statement read. "Our request to remove this issue should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the practice of advance pay or advance loans, but rather an acknowledgement that such a practice exists."

Last week, after The Augusta Chronicle reported the school board attorney's investigation into the pay advance procedure, Dr. Larke responded, making public copies of employee newsletters and other materials from recent years that discussed the practice. In them, the superintendent said the advance-pay requests were getting out of control.

Those same newsletters, he said, also had been sent to school board members.

Although Mrs. Pulliam and Mr. Hasan have been critical of Dr. Larke in recent months, they said in Monday's statement that it would be "grossly unfair" to new school board members to pursue the allegation in the absence of a written policy.

"As a result, it would be virtually impossible for us to render a fair and impartial decision on this issue," the statement said.

Their statement continued by providing recommendations for accommodating school system employees who might need money.

"With that in mind, one thing we hope the board will approve is to permit our payroll department to release confirmations of employment status and other necessary documentations to financial institutions like the Employees Credit Union and allow for payroll deductions payable to such institutions for emergency loans made to school system employees," the statement said.

"Such an arrangement will get the school system out of the business of making loans but facilitate the process of enabling employees to secure emergency loans from proper lending institutions," it continued.

After the charge letter is complete and approved by the school board, it will be delivered to the superintendent.

A public hearing on the changes must between 10 and 20 days after that.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.