June 13, 2018 • www.theobserver.com • Vol. CXXXI, No. 5
HIGHLIGHTS State auditor’s report reveals a mess behind the scenes at Belleville schools from 2013-2016 Page 2
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD • EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
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Photo by Kevin Canessa
Each year, a group of runners from local police departments take part in the Special Olympics Torch Run. See more photos at www.theobserver.com.
Fife, running mates, sweep in Harrison’s Primary Election By Kevin Canessa kc@theobserver.com HARRISON — In one of the nastiest elections in recent memory, Harrison Mayor James A. Fife and
his ticket of four candidates running for the Town Council made it a clean sweep in the Tuesday, June 5, primary, and now move on to the November election, where it is presumed they will win without Republican opposition.
As of press time, Fife, the incumbent, beat Second Ward Councilman Anselmo Millan for the Democratic nomination for Mayor with 1,294 votes to 995. There were also six write-in votes. In the First Ward, incumbent Jesus
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018
State auditor issues scathing report on Belleville School District from ’13 to ’16 By Kevin Canessa kc@theobserver.com BELLEVILLE — The State Auditor recently released a scathing report on the Belleville School District’s business and educational practices from 2013 to 2016 — and some of the findings have been forwarded to the State Division of Criminal Justice for further review, according to the document. The 32-page report was sent to current Schools Superintendent Richard D. Tomko — who was not in office during the time the report covers — sometime in late May. It was also forwarded on June 5 to Gov. Phil Murphy, State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, State Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin and the Executive
Director of the Office of Legislative Services Peri A. Horowitz. The report exposes practices related to — and offers remedies for — things ranging from budget deficits, to security systems, to telecommunications, to the cancelation of contracts, to the improper sale and lease of district-owned real estate, to its procurement process, to payroll and medical-benefits being paid for former employees, to student field trips to a tabloid talk show in Connecticut. We’ll review some of the more serious matters. However, the entire report may be found at www. theobserver.com. The primary reason for the audit, the report reveals, was to determine “factors that contributed to the 2014
fiscal year-end general fund budgetary deficit of more than $3.7 million. The auditor’s office says it “found the … budgetary deficit resulted from management’s disregard for the budget limits and inaction in controlling spending. The lack of relevant experienced staff inhibited the district’s ability to establish and enforce internal controls to ensure district resources were expended in an efficient and effective manner.” It goes on to note the district’s spending practices were “not always reasonable or properly recorded in the accounting system.” Some transactions, according to the report, were never approved by the Board of Education — and some payroll-related actions revealed “weaknesses.”
Wikipedia
The Belleville Schools admin building.
One of the more glaring ineptitudes came in fiscal year 2013. In reality, the district saw a 7.3% rise in salaries. However, the budget actually called for a 1% decrease in salaries.
Additionally, the audit revealed: • Three former employees were not removed
Continued on the next page
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018
Continued from previous page medical coverage for a period of 18 to 30 months after leaving the district. This resulted in the overpayment of $74,000 in medical-benefit premiums. • Four former employees on unpaid leave were kept on the district’s prescription plan for 2 to 28 months after they were to have been removed. One employee was never billed for 13 months of COBRA payments. • The wife of a retired employee kept medical coverage — the district paid for it all — for 14.5 years after her husband’s retirement. It was supposed to end after 11 years. • Eleven former employees and two on unpaid leave kept their dental benefits for 2 months to 8+ years after coverage was to end. • The district, in 2013, entered into multiple agreements with a telecommunications company, but then stopped making payments on the contracts in August 2014. Twice, during that period, the district had no phone service. • The district failed to implement a disasterrecovery plan, which ultimately resulted in loss of data following a major systems crash. • The district lost $550,000 in potential revenue after it sold the old School No. 1 to the township for $1. That same piece of property was later sold to a private entity, by the township, for $1 million, after it remedied the site environmentally. • In 2013, the district improperly purchased “residential property without proper budgeting and approvals” at 58 Bellavista Ave. • For nearly three years — from 2013 to 2016 — the district’s procurement practices were inefficient. As examples, 18 of 50 transactions were reportedly not “supported by proper documentation, such as purchase orders and receiving reports,” “payments for three transactions were made more than five months or more after the invoice date” and the-then business administrator “did not submit a written report to the Board of Education on the status of district contracts by July 1 of each school year” as
‘Since the arrival of a state monitor, and appointment of a new chief schools administrator, the district has made numerous changes to the SOP and departmental protocols ...’ — Current Belleville Supt. of Schools Richard Tomko is required by law. • The district paid $20,000 for flash drives it didn’t need and could not use. At the time of the purchase, “the company employed a district board trustee as one of its sales representatives.” • Stipends were not paid according to labor contracts. In fact, according to the report, several coaches and moderators were overpaid. • From October 2012 to March 2014, district students — some likely under the minimum 18 years of age for attendance — attended live tapings of a Stamford, Connecticutbased tabloid TV talk show. The attendees were to receive transportation to the Constitution State, free lunch, plus $50 for weekday tapings and $70 for Friday shows. The board, at the time, approved the trips — including blanket approval for tapings during the entire 2013-14 school year. Only seniors were permitted to attend the tapings, and all money earned by the students was, in turn, to be given to the district as a “donation.” The educational justification for the trips was to obtain “behind-the-scenes” experience. In total, 1,300 students attended 26 separate trips to the show while the district received $28,680 for sending kids to the show to be part of the audience. Because a list of the kids who attended the show could not be found, it was concluded, in the report, based on the sheer number of seniors who went through Belleville High School, that “underage students may have attended the show.” Tomko, meanwhile, in his response to the audit, says many safeguards are already in place to remedy the inefficiencies revealed by the auditor. “Since the arrival of a state monitor and appointment of a new chief
schools administrator, the district has made numerous specific changes to standard-
operating procedures and departmental protocols to ensure compliance in
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all areas that encompass the tenets of the QSAC,” Tomko said. “Policy changes have also occurred to enhance accountability for all stakeholders and to provide more stringent documentation to advance record-keeping as an assurance that future administrators and board trustees continue to follow the progress made after corrective-action plans were established and completed. To review Tomko’s full response, visit www. theobserver.com.
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