The State Auditor's Report--A Bad Day in the City

The long-awaited report of the state audit of the School Department is out -- and the news is not good. It shows a pattern of fiscal mismanagement and malfeasance by the Superintendent and some employees of the school department, as well as a lack of oversight by the School Committee that has allowed the Superintendent and the School Department to spend millions of dollars on questionable expenditures without going through the channels required by state and municipal finance law. Among the items cited in the report are bid-splitting and bid-rigging practices that allowed the School Department to circumvent the city's procurement procedures, the misuse of MCAS and Shore Collaborative funds for purposes (including homecoming and football equipment) other than those for which they were intended, having unlicensed teachers on the payroll, the misuse of $830K in federal grant money designated to add teachers to the payroll, improper teacher layoffs, and "flawed budgetary practices" resulting in $1.2 million in overspending.

It would be easy for some people -- including us -- to gloat, to say "we told you so." That's not how we feel. This is a dark day for our city. The findings in this report are nothing to be smug or satisfied about -- but they are something to be angry about. The report's findings demonstrate not only a misuse of public funds -- it shows a disregard for the public trust. It is time for the School Committee to stand up and address these issues, to do the job they were elected to do, and take steps to rebuild the public trust in the quality of our School Department. It is time for the School Committee and the Superintendent to be a real example for our children -- to stand up and take responsibility for what they've done and take the steps necessary -- including working within the system and the law -- to ensure that this type of abuse of power never happens again. It is time for the whole of City Government to open their eyes and be willing to address the rampant School Department overspending that has gone unchecked for many years.

The temptation, of course, will be for this issue to be used as yet another pawn in the never-ending chess game that Everett politics seems to be. It is up to us, as voters, not to let that happen. It is up to us to hold all parties accountable and disperse the dark cloud that hangs over our city today. We owe it to ourselves, our children and the future of our City to make this right.

UPDATE: Read the Audit Report here.