Board’s hasty rehire of pricey attorney is latest financial misfire

Who would have believed that a little more than a few months after finally coming up for air after disastrous spending decisions that caused havoc in Wayne County Public Schools and left the district millions of dollars in debt, we would be back here … again?

But here we are — another shockingly misguided financial decision by the county Board of Education.

In a “special called” meeting that can only be described as “rushed,” the members of the board — at the insistence of their chairman Chris West — have made yet another irresponsible decision to renew another expensive consultant contract, with little review or public discussion.

And to add insult to injury, this is the same “consultant” contract that left many county taxpayers shocked at how anyone could have watched this line item spiral out of control.

That’s right, your school board has renewed the contract of its million-dollar attorney Richard Schwartz.

Remember him? He is the one who billed the county $83,000 to answer board members phone calls — and brought home nearly a $1.5 million paycheck in just under three years from Wayne County billings alone.

Yeah, that guy.

Schwartz seems to be the only expense that has survived the slash and burn cuts that the district has “had to make” because of its previous financial missteps — not your teachers’ salaries, not your children’s educational offerings, not spending on equipment, books and school repairs.

And now, he has been retained again — just like that.

The speed at which the contract was discussed and renewed was not lost on some of those who sat in the special meeting Thursday.

Board members Jennifer Strickland and Len Henderson said they were uncomfortable with the costs associated with Schwartz.

Strickland went as far as to suggest that the district needed to ask for bids for legal services. And she is absolutely right, by the way.

It seems hard to believe that there is not an enormous amount of savings that could be realized in the “legal services” line item.

But in the end, the contract was renewed anyway.

So why the rush? Why not seek bids?

Of course, we don’t know. But Schwartz made a big announcement in advance of asking for the contract renewal that makes this decision even more mind-numbing.

You will note that this time we are not renewing a contract with the firm we once knew.

Schwartz & Shaw is no longer the same, with nine of the firm’s 11 associates deciding to join another organization.

Here is the letter that was sent to the board, giving WCPS the option of entering a partnership with those experts at their new firm:

So here’s the situation.

Schwartz & Shaw was touted by West and others because of the expertise available through the firm — attorneys were experienced and skilled at education law. That is why the expense was justified, West said. Schwartz & Shaw “saved the county money.”

But for now, the majority of that expertise is gone.

Hmmm. Interesting, huh?

So in the face of that kind of information, that kind of major game-changer, wouldn’t you have pumped the brakes? Did a little more research? Renegotiated the cost?

Nope. Not this board.

But don’t worry, Schwartz has promised that while he will no longer have access to the education specialist attorneys that were the excuse for why a district with money issues would be hiring such an expensive attorney, he will have access soon to more expertise and be able to provide services at the same level.

So he says — you know, even if he didn’t have any names to offer at this time.

OK, we said. “Yes,” from every single board member except Mrs. Strickland.

No. We’re not kidding. That’s actually how it played out.

Why would anyone make such a decision, so quickly, with so many red flags flying? It seems pretty obvious why Schwartz would want to move as quickly as possible on this contract, but why would the board agree?

We don’t know that answer either. But here is what we think.

Schwartz is too involved in the decisions, discussions and policy-making of this county school board. He seems to have an undue influence on some of the board members — especially the board chairman, who knows just how much spending like this and blind allegiance to an employee, company or contractor got this school district into financial trouble previously.

This should not be about “good old boys,” “loyalty” or anything else — not when you are the stewards of millions of tax dollars and the education of thousands of children. There are a few more considerations than that.

But it seems like negotiating from a position of strength and making darn sure that this time any contract would be under scrutiny is not on the agenda.

In fact, when there was some discussion about the bills from Schwartz & Shaw, West said the high costs were “(the board’s) fault.”

“Richard has told us how to keep our costs down and we keep calling and emailing him,” West chided his peers.

We have one word for that piece of brilliant analysis.

Baloney.

If you are paying an attorney the kind of money you are paying Schwartz, much more than the city of Goldsboro and the Wayne County government are paying for their entire legal teams by the way, you should be able to negotiate a certain amount of consultation into the contract — and expect that if a firm wants to keep your business, it will work to meet your needs.

Anyone who runs a business, signs contracts, participates in competitive bidding and serves customers knows that.

And much of the “excess spending” was actually covered in Schwartz and Shaw’s retainer.

In fact, during a budget work session held April 17, 2019, former board member Rick Pridgen requested a line-by-line accounting of expenditures — and was particularly interested in what the district was paying Schwartz & Shaw.

West told Pridgen he had “already requested and received that information,” and, while he did not provide a total, revealed that phone calls to the firm from board members had cost the district $83,000.

West also said that “a large amount has been paid for vetting policies and a tremendous amount of time related to the county commissioners” and added that the board “knew there would be a spike in legal costs” that year.

But according to the firm’s contract with the district, WCPS paid Schwartz & Shaw a $3,000 per month retainer that included “the availability of the firm for telephone and office consultation with the Board of Education” and “policy review and drafting services.”

So why the $83,000 — we repeat, $83,000 — for phone calls?

Kind of makes you wonder what the retainer actually covered, doesn’t it?

But we digress. The contract is signed. Nothing we can do about that.

But the board members, those who think that maybe it is time to look a little more closely at the money Wayne County Public Schools is spending on legal services, should make it their business to do so — and make sure those numbers and questions are shared with the public.

In short, Schwartz needs to work for the board, not the other way around.

The money that has been wasted on boutique legal services for the last few years could have bought more than a few things — more teachers, instructional assistants, maintenance workers, bus drivers and perhaps even taken care of one of the multitude of facilities projects that have waited and waited and waited.

The cronyism that typically bogs down local governments — including hiring relatives, awarding contracts by “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours,” not acting quickly enough when incompetence has been demonstrated or choosing to play politics rather than making the right decision — is how communities end up in serious financial trouble.

If Wayne County is going to move forward, we have to stop voting in people who do not get that — and holding those who are currently sitting on boards accountable for the decisions they make.

And the best way to do that is to insist that the public’s business is done thoughtfully in public — not in a hastily called special session to “take care of” a consultant.