--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, Allan Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >
You might hear something about Asbury before that maybe days. In the press today a story about school waste. At the end it says other schools will be looked at in the spring. Will be interesting to see what is found in Asbury. > > > Misspent funds cited in 4 Abbott districts > Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/31/07 > BY GREGORY J. VOLPE > GANNETT STATE BUREAU > Post Comment > TRENTON Four of the state's poorest school districts spend money with little in-house oversight and controls, according to audits released Tuesday by the state Department of Education. > As a result of a state Supreme Court order last May, the state audited Camden and the three state-operated districts, Jersey City, Newark and Paterson. Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said Camden and Paterson "present the most difficult challenges" and promised more oversight from state government. > "We must ensure that the state resources are being spent to meet students' educational needs and not to serve other purposes," Davy said. "There are too many errors and too many holes in most of these district operations resulting in too many opportunities for questionable activity." > In "desk reviews" of a random sample of recent purchase orders, auditors said there wasn't enough documentation to know if spending was reasonable for $13 million in Camden, $1 million in Paterson, $558,000 in Jersey City and $446,000 in Newark. > Other more specific findings include: > Camden spent more than $330,000 in payroll to employees who had been dead for years. Six employees had termination dates that were two to 30 years after they died. Newark also spent $310,000 in payroll to 28 dead employees. > A Paterson custodian more than doubled his $45,000 salary in overtime. > $29,995 was spent on Newark Schools Superintendent Marion Bolden's 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a 4-by-4 with leather interior and navigation screen. The district responded it was provided according to the state-appointed superintendent's contract. > A $22,600 Volkswagen Passat with leather interior was provided former Camden Schools Superintendent Annette Knox. > Double-paying of 25 athletic game staff employees in Camden $6,500 for the same event. > $2,385 was spent for a Jersey City administrator to attend the Oxford Roundtable in England. > $1,795 went for a jukebox purchased in Newark by Bolden, who responded it was bought from a vendor who didn't accept purchase orders. > State Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, reacted sharply to the audit findings, saying in a prepared release that the failure by some school officials to account for much of the funds spent should trigger a higher level of scrutiny of Abbott district spending. > "At a time when legislators in Trenton are trying to trim the size of government and maximize efficiencies in state and local services, we need to crack down, hard, on those Abbott officials who, whether through incompetence or intentional fraud, have cost taxpayers across the state thousands, if not millions," Karcher said. > She also said she will push for the state to recover money that was misspent and wants the attorney general to go after those guilty of corruption and malfeasance. > David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, a watchdog group that has fought for more funding for schools in poorer towns, called for a review of the state education department. > "It's time that we shine the spotlight on the state, on the department, to make sure that whatever problems these audits have unearthed, the department follows through and makes sure they're corrected," Sciarra said. > All four districts offered written responses to auditors with varying degrees of explanation. > Camden said its new administrator as of Jan. 2 didn't have enough time to study the report. Paterson said some reforms have already been implemented and more are on the way. > Jersey City blamed auditors for not interacting with school personnel before issuing the criticism. > Newark objected to auditors calling some of their expenses questionable. > Davy said each district will be asked to develop a plan to correct deficiencies found in the audits. Audits for the state's other 27 Abbott districts will be audited this spring. > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ ______________ > Be a PS3 game guru. > Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games. > http://videogames.yahoo.com/platform?platform=120121 > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
