They knew. And he knew.
Those are five powerful — and infuriating — words.
Here are a few more.
The majority of the Wayne County Board of Education talked about the deficit and worrisome expenses in certain categories like contract services — more than once. And yes, they were made aware — most definitely the finance committee members and the board chairman — of the day-to-day financial operations in the district (not that anyone really believed that excuse anyway).
The overspending was massive and included money spent for administrators’ salaries and high-priced consultants — not to mention some rather questionable purchases, head-scratching contracts, varying versions of the truth, creative definitions of the word “transparency” and a certain disregard for the state’s Open Meetings and Sunshine laws.
Several board members — not just chairman Chris West — knew before the audit bombshell this summer that there was a budget problem.
And that includes vice chairman Jennifer Strickland, the same person who was so “angry” after “learning” about the district’s financial condition June 3.
Strickland served on the Finance Committee. So, too, did Pat Burden and Len Henderson. They were there when the late Rick Pridgen asked to look at what was soon to become a million-plus dollars in legal fees — and when he requested an itemized listing of how WCPS dollars would be spent.
Board members were told by the former superintendent and finance office and during audit presentations for FY 2017-18, and then again in 2018-19 and again in 2019-20 that there was a need for budget cuts and that there were deficit concerns.
They even knew that they were in serious financial trouble when West and other members of the board renewed the contract of then-Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore.
That is also the vote where Strickland did not cast a ballot — effectively putting the final yes on the motion to re-up Dunsmore’s contract.
And despite what his fellow board member Ven Faulk said at the board’s most recent meeting, West is no white knight. He did not sound the alarm after “discovering” the massive deficit and rally the board members to fix the financial “emergency.”
He did not uncover some illicit plot cooked up by the finance officer and the superintendent to hide the district’s financial situation from the board. And he was not unaware of the growing deficit or the diminishing fund balance that dropped from $7 million to -$2.4 million in four years under his watch.
In some ways, knowing that the board knew about the financial dustup is a bit of a relief. To think anyone could have missed all this and have been duped by a superintendent, or that a finance officer could fool an entire Central Office administrative team, including his boss, is chilling, and concerning.
Former Finance Officer Michael Hayes did not hide audits from the board — or the information that a large deficit was accumulating.
Just look at the meeting minutes.
And West and members of the Finance Committee, including Strickland, were not oblivious to the bills that the law firm was running up.
In fact, West said he checked on them — and then defended them, just as he championed that same attorney’s billings and praised the firm’s work at the last two board meetings.
The chairman also announced that the district, which is paying a $3,000 a month retainer to Schwartz & Shaw, the aforementioned million-dollar law firm, will pay an additional fee to Richard Schwartz to handle its superintendent search.
Does that seem like a good idea?
So, if, as West contended, the retainer does not cover $83,000 in calls from school board members or using the firm to consult on a superintendent search, what does it cover?
All those decisions and jaw-dropping deficit spending suggest that something has run afoul on Royall Avenue.
It makes you wonder what might have happened if no one had been looking too closely.
There has been a lot of posturing going on in the last couple of weeks as the saga that is the WCPS’ budget debacle rages on.
And at every one of the last few meetings there has been a whole lot of congratulations and “thank you for your hard work” platitudes thrown around.
In fact, if you were one of the 91 people watching the live feed of the board’s latest meeting, you heard the “revelation and celebration” of the discovery that the district managed to salvage $1.8 million thanks to some masterful use of state and COVID-19 funds by its latest consultant hire and a whole bunch of savings from the fact that school was out for three months.
What you might have missed is the addendum that the district still owes more than $5 million — to repay the state loan to cover its June payroll and stipends and to replace $3 million it mysteriously borrowed from the Food Services Fund.
We don’t doubt there is hard work going on at Central Office. There are other activities done there besides budgeting. There are challenges with setting up a new school year under normal circumstances, let alone with a global pandemic looming.
But there are questions, important ones, that need to be addressed for the sake of the students and taxpayers of Wayne County — and for the employees who are there, and have been there, for the right reason — to provide the best education possible for the county’s children.
Let’s not get distracted — or let anyone else distract us — from what the real purpose is here.
And that is why the questions will continue, if only to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
No more blind trust. No more not holding public officials accountable. No more.
The jury is still out on interim Superintendent James Merrill — whom the district hired at a rate of more than $22,000 a month; the consultants, past and present (although there was some refreshing transparency in that area recently); who is scratching whose back and who has whose numbers on speed dial; and who is spinning, who is deflecting blame, who is sincerely ready to make a change and speak up and who is just waiting for it all to go away.
Sure, it is a little rocky now, but don’t despair.
Getting schools back on track and setting a new course for better and more responsible spending, that can only mean better things for our county and our children.
When the money is right, we can decide where it is best spent and if more needs to be invested — and who needs to hear about it.
And, by the way, there are other places that need some sunlight, too — and other boards that have become a bit too comfortable operating without real scrutiny.
We hope you will continue to help us weed out what is not working in Wayne County so we can head to the bigger and the better.
It is time for there to be some real watchdogs in town again, and don’t ever forget that you — the people who live here, love this community and want to protect it for your children and grandchildren — are part of that pack.
Thanks for the work you do. The school board acted like we were ignorant when we questioned the money set aside for Edgewood school.
Finally, the rest of the country can see what we are up against.
County, not country.
Ask why AD’s, coaches who cut grass during summer, and football coaches and asst. football coaches will not be paid for their work this summer and the first 9 days of August. This is insane!!!
So when is someone gonna investigate the 5 MILLION dollar mess they have going on near the police department? This coujntyr and city covernment is nothing but a bunch of gfreedy pigs,, and it needs to be stopped NOW!
You know, God is good all the time. And they know every devious and underhanded thing Dunsmore did to every employee under his leadership that he did not care for. They all went along with his dirt. You reap what you sow.
Thank you Renee! You are the BEST.
There is indeed light at the end of this tunnel now that these actions have been exposed. It should lead to more scrutiny and transparency because we, the public, demand it. But the current board needs to be discharged and replaced with qualified, ethical members. Let’s hope this leads to a much stronger school,system.
There are federal funds allotted for each EC student and each English Language Learner. Title 1 and Title 3. Are these funds being used appropriately?
I’m sure that’s a big part of what the current auditors are looking at.
Why?? I don’t understand why they allowed the extravagance while cutting teacher positions and supplies in schools. Teachers have been being moved around and retirements not filled years. Textbook money has been minuscule. Copy and other supply money has been cut, but, pork barrel spending continued. As.an educator, I am so tired, discouraged, angry and sad. Wayne County will never be the same.
Ms Burden has several ‘pet’ projects. I am sure none of those wil be cut.
Dunsmore personally attacked his employees and the board did nothing. You are right…they knew. They all should be removed. They all should have to pay for failing to do their jobs. They tried to lie their way out of this. Never in a million years did they think they would be exposed to this degree. T. Ishee needs to go too. She is part of the mess and blindly supported Dunsmore.
How is Ishee an assistant superintendent without a doctoral degree? There are teachers with educations equal to or greater than hers, but she makes three times the income.
More education does not equal more income, biggest lie told to people today. The school system should be run by business managers, people trained to run businesses. The BOE should be educators who are tasked with keeping a watchful eye on the Superintendent & Cabinet and advising.
He is not the only one attacking his employees. There’s Administrators that are doing it and creating hostile environments while HR does nothing. No support for employees. Ultimately it hurts the children when staff are so stressed when educating them. Staff have to worry about where they might be moved at the whim of administration and Central Office if they stand up for themselves or the students. The students are out reason.
While we are looking, everyone in the school community should inquire about the number of associate superintendents and administrative directors employed by WCPS. There are 16 aforementioned positions flaunted on the opening page of the WCPS Website. As a school employee, I know this is only the tip of the iceberg! IF you know where to look and whom to ask, one can discover a multitude of curriculum specialists, program directors, lead teachers, and —-on and on and on—-and other “creative” titles camouflaged within the system. Again, this historically speaking top-heavy central office is where our funds land. No wonder teachers have to beg for and buy student supplies. It’s sad and it’s unacceptable.
I agree, very top heavy, definitely not much help to the individual teachers who “actually” teach the students. And another thought, could North Carolina, as a whole, which apparently seems not to coordinate with other counties, see the expanding corruption of these companies, going from county to county to county; and how could the Superintendent of NC not be involved? We, the people, are not being represented.
Anonymous
Lead Teachers are paid their teacher salary. They get paid for the months they work ie 11 or 12 months.
Now if we pay directors and upper administrators the salary on the state scale we may be able to recoup some of the funds. Which means some may have to take pay cuts. Also our county has new positions developed by the prior administration that we never had that have not helped our students. Look at all administrators and their area of “expertise “ some have never worked in the areas they are responsible for, solely for the people they know or who their parents know.
Where do we go from here? We comment but are we really heard? This has gone on long enough. Are we going to make sure people we voted for are held accountable?
Ishee claims she went to Harvard so she doesn’t need a doctorate degree. She came in under the corruption of Dunsmore. She supported his corrupt ways. She knew.
New Old North is there a way you can certify she actually graduated from Harvard? Or, did she just attend a program.
What are the steps in having representatives removed? I know that west is in until 2022. I am not a fan of him being the representative for my area for another 2 years. My reasons for wanting him out are not all stemming from this craziness. He’s been in too long, not listened to his stakeholders, had several conflicts of interests, and lied to an entire group about the intentions of the construction tax increase that was voted on in November. He certainly doesn’t need to be chair if the board. Every meeting that they have, someone has to redirect him because he doesn’t know how to run the meeting. I’m sure other people feel that it is time for him to be out as well.
Thank you NON for your diligence in bringing all that has been hidden to the Surface!
When will the board recognize the value and importance of their bus drivers. The drivers endure so much. They are told how essential they are and yet continuously get disrespected and down grades.
We hope you will continue to help us weed out what is not working in Wayne County so we can head to the bigger and the better.
It is time for there to be some real watchdogs in town again, and don’t ever forget that you — the people who live here, love this community and want to protect it for your children and grandchildren — are part of that pack.
REALLY? REALLY???????? You want to weed out what’s nwo working in Wayne County? Start with the city council, speciffically the so called “mayor” and his cromies, Brodadass, Fishcake and Hambone. hat will be a good start. BUT…………………….you don’t have what it take to do that, do you?
You don’t have to wait for terms to end. There is a recall available, especially in cases of financial malfeasance. Also, the governor may be able to remove any or all of the existing Board members in these cases. It’s allowed in other states where there is malfeasance. Regardless, don’t wait for these board members to honorably resign. It won’t happen, especially with Chris West. He has a vested interest in staying on to protect himself and his family since he’s pretty much put family and friends in positions. If that was investigated it would be found that some of that overspending lands right at his doorstep. Plus, why did he need an office at the district, when he keeps claiming that he knew nothing and didn’t get involved in day to day operations? I’ll bet some of the folks he bullied, harassed, and intimidated would tell a different story. Also, since he seems to be still drawing a salary from his construction “job”, why isn’t he there every day? more important, what does his actual employer get in return for Chris not working at his supposed job? That would be worth knowing.
Why does the board continue to employ the attorney who watched over this debacle at a quite handsome sum? Everyone should realize that he, and that firm, stand to gain by keeping the whole truth from coming out! It’s in their best interests to defend this board’s actions, because if they don’t their business model gets affected and future business dries up. They should have already been gone. More importantly, what kind of agreements did they have the board sign with Dunsmore and Hayes that would keep them from telling what they know since the Board clearly knew beforehand that there were financial problems? Why haven’t those two been questioned unless the Board and the attorney don’t want them questioned?
Still no explanation of where the $3 million went. Why not? If done properly, that should be easy to find. And $3 million moved and Chris West and the finance committee members didn’t know what was done and why? Put all of them under oath, and you’ll see them suddenly remember things. And all of them likely have personal umbrella policies of at least $1 million. Some quick legal work might enable WC to recover some of that total from them instead of cutting teachers, salaries, etc. Certainly worth pursuing.
Very bothersome that the interim superintendent and even more consultants were hired without much vetting at significant costs. And in the online meeting a few weeks ago he championed that he got the money from other sources rather than the WC commissioners. That way he doesn’t have to have accountability to open the books. That should bother everyone. Plus, he never once mentioned the Central Office and all of the high salaried and redundant positions. Sounds like his plan is to “fix” things on the backs of the teachers. If that’s his mindset, there was no need to pay him that salary and expenses to fix the problems. For what he’s getting paid there should be a higher expectations of transparency and creativity.
Don’t think this Board (those with at least 2 years of experience) can fix the problems. They caused them, and even when faced with the facts of the situation did what they know best – spend more money without deliberation or thought as to the ramifications. They can’t fix the problems and if left there things will only get worse for the students and teachers. Removing this Board through options that are readily available is a must. Don’t let them off the hook. The children of WC deserve better.
So where are the criminal charges? Are the police and SBI involved in investigating to bring criminal charges? There is no way this was going on for so long and such a large amount of money to not charge the person(s) responsible.
I left Wayne county last school year to teach in another county and I am so glad now.
INSTRUCTONAL ASSISTANT PAY FOR THE crap DUMPED ON THEM IS LUDICROUS!!!!YOU HAVE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF EARNING SALARIES THAT FAR EXCEED THEIR ABILITIES AND TOTALLY DISREGARDS COST OF LIVING IN WAYNE COUNTY ,, WHEN YOU MAKE IT IN CENTRAL OFFICE, bldg,,YOU ARE SET ,, cuts come along it never starts AT THE TOP WHERE THE MOST WASTE IS ,, starts with the bottom ,, AND I HATE TO SAY IT BUT ITS TRUE ,,,TEACHERS OR OTHER STAFF NEVER FIGHT TO HEIP ASSISTANTS get a LIVEABLE WAGE,, thanks
Renee, you are not completely accurate in your accusations. The anger needs to be placed on the ones that stole the money. As soon as the Board members found out they took action. I don’t know what your motives are. Maybe you’re making things up to get more subscribers. You need to get all your facts before printing such much garbage.