By ALEXA MILAN
SANFORD — Members of the Lee County Board of Commissioners defended a performance audit of Lee County Schools and county departments Wednesday after members of the Board of Education slammed the initiative during its Tuesday meeting.
When it approved the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget in June, the Board of Commissioners directed County Manager John Crumpton to begin looking for independent agencies to conduct a performance audit of the county government and Lee County Schools. Board of Education members questioned the motive behind the performance audit during Tuesday’s meeting, as well as whether it would truly be a performance audit measuring efficiency of operations or a strictly a financial review.
Commissioner Charlie Parks, who serves as the Board of Commissioners’ education liaison, said he found it discouraging to hear Board of Education members refer to the audit as a “witch hunt” and “political gamesmanship” during the meeting.
“I was disappointed,” Parks said. “It keeps cropping up as a political issue an it’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue… From what we’ve ascertained from other counties, there have been cost savings and recommendations for improvement. They also come back and say what we’re doing well.”
Board of Education member Mark Akinosho said he did not oppose discussing a strategic plan for the schools with the county, but he was concerned the audit was more for political benefit than the well-being of the students, teachers and community.
“I just don’t want our children to become a political football as we head into an election year,” Akinosho said.
Board of Education members said Tuesday they felt the board was being unfairly scrutinized when the board had complied with commissioners’ requests for financial information during the spring’s budget sessions. Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Linda Shook said the Board of Education would receive the same treatment as the county departments when the audit is conducted. If the audit represents politics at play, she said, the Board of Education should accuse other counties that conduct performance audits of the same thing.
“It’s not just Lee County doing this,” Shook said. “We’re doing what other counties are already in the process of doing. We’re not targeting this Board of Education. We’re also auditing ourselves. We want to make sure as far as county operations, that we’re operating as efficiently and effectively as can be. I have no doubt whatever this audit costs us that we will be able to recoup every penny of this in savings.”
Board of Education Chairman Shawn Williams said he had drafted a letter to Shook emphasizing the importance of the Board of Education’s involvement in the audit process. Shook said she agreed the Board of Education should be involved, and that it would be to the board’s benefit to cooperate fully with the audit and be open to its recommendations.
Williams said he would wait to submit the letter until after Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, during which the commissioners are set to consider auditor bids. The bids from potential auditors ranged from $108,000-$194,000. Though the commissioners will not vote until Monday, Commissioner Jim Womack said the firm recommended by the county is Florida-based Evergreen Solutions, with a bid of $175,000 for conducting the schools and county audits in separate years and $140,000 if the two audits are conducted concurrently.
In 2007, Evergreen Solutions conducted an audit of Beaufort County Schools while Lee County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss was the superintendent there. In that audit, Lee County was a school system studied for comparison. Williams said he felt the audit was a waste of time and money since Evergreen Solutions had already examined Lee County Schools previously and since the school system already conducts multiple audits, including an annual review through Raleigh-based certified public accounting firm Dixon Hughes.
“It’s a waste of money from a group of commissioners that said they had no money,” Williams said.
Womack said the commissioners had thoroughly researched similar performance audits in other counties and found examples in which counties and school systems had saved millions of dollars. Shook cited Davie County as a model she hoped Lee County could follow. Like Shook, Womack said he was confident the performance audit would save the county and the school system money in the long run.
“We weren’t picking on the schools or any one department of the county, but treating everyone the same,” Womack said. “We hope to clarify that in subsequent meetings, and when we do the contract with the firm. There is nothing surreptitious. There is no hidden agenda in what we’re trying to accomplish. We simply want to establish financial accountability and learn from an expert firm that is accustomed to doing these kinds of reviews.”
Board of Education member Bill Tatum said he felt the disagreement about the performance audit boiled down to a lack of communication and dialogue.
“We’ve always had communications between the chair of the Board of Education, the chair of the County Commissioners, the county manager and the superintendent,” Tatum said. “That has stopped.”
