Office of Professional Responsibility

Office of Professional Responsibility Staff

Donald R. “Don” Smith, Jr., Executive Director
Don has more than 25 years of experience as a criminal investigator with the U.S. Treasury Department in the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division. He also has worked as a security clearance investigator and as a corporate compliance investigator with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Mr. Smith retired in 2000 as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Military Police Corps. In his last Army Reserve assignment, he was a reserve mobilization commander for the Army Criminal Investigation Division Command at Fort Hood. He is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, the U.S. Treasury Criminal Investigator Academy and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Peter “Pete” Nielsen, Director of Investigations
Pete has 27 years of law enforcement experience. Mr. Nielsen spent twenty-two years as a federal agent investigating white collar crimes, financial fraud and money laundering violations. He worked 5 years as a Dallas Police officer and investigator. Prior to coming to the district, Pete was President and CEO of a corporation specializing in private investigations and consulting. He was the lead investigator on the P-card inquiry.

George Santowski, Director of Compliance
George, a graduate of Northern Illinois University, worked 31 years in the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division. During his tenure with the IRS, George spent 9 years as a Field Special Agent, 19 years as Supervisory Special Agent, and 3 years in National Office Analysis. After leaving the IRS, Mr. Santowski spent 4 years training federal agents from all branches of the federal government at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Charlene Burroughs, Manager of Ethics and Integrity
Charlene is a career educator who taught elementary grades for 9 years prior to moving to middle school where she taught 8th graders for 12 years. After leaving the classroom, Ms. Burroughs moved to Professional Development and Staff Training where she became a certified Covey trainer. As a Covey Trainer, she trained district staff on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the 4 Roles of Leadership. Additionally, she has written several training modules for teachers and support staff. Charlene also served as Operations Executive for Teaching and Learning.

Norman “Norm” Epstein, Inspector
Norm has over 30 years of federal investigative experience. He served 15 years as a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and then another 16 years with the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General investigating issues of public corruption and major procurement fraud. After his retirement from the federal government in December 2000, Norm continued to serve the federal government as a retained contract investigator conducting personnel security and public integrity investigations for numerous federal agencies. He also served 12 years as an active duty Air Force Officer and then 15 years in the Air Force Reserves, before retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Norm received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of South Carolina and an MBA in Business Management from the University of Dallas.

Frank McCammon, Inspector (Bilingual English and Spanish)
After serving as an Air Intelligence Officer in the Navy, Frank began a career in law enforcement. Frank worked first as an FBI Special Agent and later with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. He worked cases involving tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering before he retired. Frank then worked abroad as an enforcement advisor for the U. S. Government after the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, with assignments in Romania, Armenia, Moldova, and Slovenia. He has also worked in Central and South America. Working for Dallas ISD is not Frank’s venture into the business of education. As a recipient of a B.A. in Spanish Literature and one in Accounting and Finance, as well as an M.A. in English, Frank has served as adjunct professor at several institutions of higher learning.

Cynthia “Cindy” McAlister, Inspector
Cindy has 23 years of federal law enforcement experience as an Internal Revenue Services Special Agent. In that capacity, she planned, organized, and conducted numerous complex, multi-agency fraud investigations. Additionally, Cindy revised two I.R.S. manuals for use by I.R.S. Special Agents. One manual outlined procedures for writing investigative reports, while the other outlined a process for reviewing criminal investigative reports. Having started as a high school intern, Cindy had a total of 34 years experience with the federal government when she retired in June. Prior to becoming a special agent, she was a paraprofessional in various agencies. Cindy is a graduate of Texas Christian University.

Rex Stewart, Inspector
Rex worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 24 years, 4 years as an auditor and 20 years as a Special Agent in the Criminal Investigation Division. He spent 2 years as a Supervisory Special Agent and the last 5 years of his career in charge of Technical Operations in the North Texas District. As head of Technical Operations Laboratory, Rex oversaw undercover audio, video, electronics and photography. After retirement, he was a substitute teacher at South Grand Prairie High School with long term assignments in Media Technology, Microsoft Office and Special Education. Rex received a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dana Davis, Investigator
Dana has 17 years of law enforcement experience. Eight of those years she was with the Dallas Police Department where she conducted numerous criminal investigations. Dana worked both misdemeanor and felony fraud cases during her time with the DPD. Ms. Davis has been connected with school district law enforcement almost ten years. As a School Resource Officer in Southlake, she served as liaison for the Southlake DPS to the Carroll ISD. She has been an administrative investigator for the Dallas ISD almost two years. Prior to moving to the law enforcement field, Dana was a fourth grade teacher at Birdie Alexander Elementary School. Dana is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University. She received a Masters of Liberal Arts from SMU.

Chris Lyle, Investigator
Prior to coming to Dallas ISD, Mr. Lyle was an Accountant with the Houston ISD. Upon moving to the district, he changed career fields and began his work in the law enforcement arena. For seven years, Chris was a peace officer in the district’s Police and Security Services Department. While there, he earned certification as a Master Peace Officer. For the past ten years, Chris has been in investigations and has reviewed alleged violations of district policy and procedures for two of the district departments. Chris is a 1985 graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He earned an M.B.A. from Sam Houston State University in 1992.

Charles Pearre, Inspector
Charles worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 28 years, 8 years as an auditor and 20 years as a Special Agent in the Criminal Investigation Division. Charles was trained as a Computer Investigative Specialist and conducted investigations of electronic data. As an Asset Forfeiture Coordinator, Charles provided technical expertise to Special Agents relating to the seizure and forfeiture of assets obtained via criminal means. He spent 4 years as a Supervisory Special Agent and the last 3 years of his IRS career as a Senior Analyst on the staff of the Director of Field Operations for the Midstates Area.

Robert Walters, Investigator
Robert, a graduate of Lincoln University, has worked for the district for one year. Before coming to the district he worked in law enforcement and for federal and state governmental agencies. Mr. Walters has been a police officer in Jefferson City, Missouri and an investigator for the state of Missouri. Additionally, the United States Postal Services tapped him to serve in an executive role for the human resources departments. Robert was also the director of the Human Rights Commission in Sioux City, Iowa. A certified mediator, Mr. Walters has mediated for the Texas Deptartment of Criminal Justice and the Texas Youth Commission.

Shirley Griffin, Administrative Assistant
Shirley has worked for the district in the Employee Relations Department for 6 years. She became a member of the OPR staff in June of 2007.

Sally Salinas, Administrative Assistant
Sally Salinas attended Dallas public schools and graduated from W. H. Adamson High school in 1997. She received her Business Administration and Technology Certification from American Trade Institute in April 2000 and is currently finalizing the work required to complete her Associates in Management from Dallas County Community College District. Sally has worked for the Human Resource departments of various well know bakeries in Dallas County and has brought her experience and knowledge to Dallas ISD. Sally was employed by the district in October 2004 after completing a long term assignment through a temporary agency. Her first assignment in the district was the office of Instructional Services. She later joined the Curriculum and Instruction Department. In May of 2007, Sally became a member of the Office of Professional Responsibility staff.

Kristi Larkin, Administrative Assistant
Kristi Larkin has been working in the district’s Administrative Investigations Department for approximately one year. Her background encompasses over 10 years of Human Resource experience. Upon making her year, she transitioned to the Office of Professional Responsibility. Kristi is a dedicated, committed professional who brings a vast amount of knowledge to this department.