By Carla Branch
alexandrianews.org
ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman (Photo: Regan Kireilis)
Alexandria City Public School Superintendent Morton Sherman is investigating the possible mismanagement of Capital Improvement Program funds. Two employees are either on administrative leave or have resigned pending the outcome of an outside audit.
According to sources close to the investigation, senior ACPS facilities staff made a practice of transferring money from one CIP project to another without notifying the Alexandria School Board or the City Council, which is a violation of Board and City policy and perhaps Virginia law. Further, ACPS staff allegedly told vendors to bill their work to specific projects whether the work performed was done on those projects or not.
Last fiscal year, Council negotiated a multiyear capital program with the School Board, which included the replacement of three schools. While CIP projects are approved individually, Council makes appropriations on a yearly basis. Council must approve any transfer of CIP funds and, in at least one case, did so without prior School Board approval, violating Board policy. Until the outside audit is complete, it is not clear how many funds transfers were made without approval.
Sherman notified City Manager Bruce Johnson today and wrote a memo to City Council this evening about the investigation. Sherman notified the School Board in closed session earlier this month that there was a potential problem.
“In September 2011, I requested a comprehensive reconciliation and review of Financial Services and Educational Facilities records for FY 2012 CIP expenditures,” Sherman said. “In the process of conducting this reconciliation and review, several issues were discovered.
“These discoveries led to the hiring of Farmer, Cox, and Robinson to conduct an agreed-upon procedures review reporting directly to the Superintendent and the School Board attorney. The auditor’s report is expected to be completed within the next two weeks, at which time we will finalize our assessment of the source of the issues and our planned course of action.
“ACPS staff who violated School or City policies will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. As of November 23, one facilities employee has resigned and a second has been put on Administrative Leave,” Sherman said.
The FY 2012 – FY 2021 Capital Improvement Program budget for Alexandria City Public Schools is $211.1 million.