Community Corner

School Leaders Fire Back at Mayor

In a letter today they dispute his claim of fiscal irregularity involving millions of dollars.

School officials are denying assertions by the Mayor Sebastian Giuliano that an audit has uncovered “irregularities” in school expenditures.

In a letter sent in an email to members of the school community, school leaders flatly denied Giuliano’s accusation that an independent audit of school board finances has revealed a series of accounting irregularities. The mayor’s highly public accusation, before a roomful of reporters, has racheted up tensions between his office and the school board.

In their letter, School Superintendent Michael J. Frechette, Business Manager Nancy P. Haynes and Barbara R. Senges, the associate superintendent for teaching and learning, bluntly say the mayor is wrong.

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“The audit says no such thing,” the letter states. “It is quite possible that the millions of dollars on the books in June that the Mayor alleges disappeared were the summer salaries for teachers.”

The letter goes on to say that the mayor has “misrepresented” an audit management letter that came with the audit to make it sound as if the district is under criminal investigation.

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“The primary concern of the school district administration and the BOE is to use its resources to provide the best educational experience to all its students. We take this mission very seriously. As always, our financial practices focus entirely on fulfilling this mission.”

The management letter and audit, which the school administration has posted on the district’s website, dispute the mayor’s claim of accounting irregularities, the letter states.

The school leaders’ letter was sent in an email from Senges, who said she, Frechette and Haynes “want you to have the facts.”

She also said, “We know that many of you are wondering about the statements made at yesterday’s press conference, in the newspapers and on TV regarding the 2010 audit of the Board of Education and City finances. Michael, Nancy and I want you to have the facts. We encourage you to read our attached statement and the un-redacted draft Management Letter posted on our website. This should answer any questions you might have about the media reports you have heard.”

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