Members of the Harford County Council grilled school officials Tuesday over a financial audit that found problems with the schools’ contracts, credit cards and inventory control systems.
The state-required legislative audit, part of a systematic review of each county’s public school system, found 57 “best practices” that Harford was performing well, said Board of Education President Patrick Hess.
Auditors also listed 20 problems that needed to be addressed, including:
• A contract for Special Education speech pathology services that totaled more than $100,000 a year, but was repeatedly renewed without school board review or approval. It had gone unnoticed because it was paid by the hour, and no one added it up to notice it was worth more than $100,000, said John Markowski, director of business services.
• School-issued credit cards for 491 employees, totaling $10 million in purchases of books, office supplies and building materials since 2006, that did not get reviewed by supervisors until after the school system had paid the bill.
“We just sent seven people to Ocean City for [the Maryland Association of Counties convention],” said Councilman Dion Guthrie, a Democrat from Joppa/Edgewood, contrasting the council’s review process. “We had to pay our own way and fill out expense reports, and we didn’t see a cent until it’s reviewed and approved.”
Insufficient methods for labeling and tracking school property worth less than $5,000 apiece, such as computers and gym equipment.
“I bet my car’s worth less than $5,000, and that would be a pretty big thing to go missing,” said Republican Councilman Chad Shrodes of North Harford.
• Too many employees given access and the ability to make purchases through the online procurement system.
“I would like a comfort level beyond a spreadsheet that the largest local expenditure — that is, the school system — is adequately overseeing its finances,” said Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, a Havre de Grace Democrat.
Markowski said the schools had already addressed most of the auditors’ concerns — many before the 10-month audit was even completed, such as limiting access to the procurement system that was accidentally left open to about 100 employees when it went online.
“As soon as we saw what they were saying, we agreed and fixed it on the spot,” Markowski said. The rest of the problems would be fixed by Dec. 31, he said. The audit found no instances of fraud, but council members wanted assurances that there would be no opportunities for it to happen.
Superintendent Jacqueline Haas said she would go before the General Assembly when it reconvenes in January to review the schools’ response to the audit.
