Speak now, or watch WCPS burn more money on pricey law firm

You probably don’t know because you weren’t there and only a few of you — 133 of you, to be exact — were watching.

At the Wayne County Board of Education’s last (special-called) meeting, the board got its first official glimpse at Superintendent Dr. David Lewis’ proposed 2022-23 budget.

Let’s get right to the point. This is a call to action.

You will be surprised to see what we found in the line items on that spending plan — especially if you have been following the district’s recent “by the skin of its teeth” escape from financial disaster.

And yes, it involves the board’s attorney, Richard Schwartz.

If you have been with us since the beginning:

• You will remember how teaching positions had to be cut in recent years and class sizes had to be increased because of financial mismanagement.

• You probably also remember the deer-in-the-headlights looks from board members who said they had no idea how bad a financial shape the district was in — even the chairman and the members of the Finance Committee (all of whom were experienced and long-term board members).

• You will remember a superintendent and a finance director “left” the district.

• You will remember the millions that had to be spent to get the district’s finances back in shape.

• You will remember consultants who told board members that one of the reasons the district was in the condition it was in was the contract service bills it was paying.

And if you were paying close attention, you also heard one of those contract consultants asking if the board of education members “understood how serious this is.”

Then, COVID-19 money started pouring in — and the district and those hired to dig it out of financial ruin managed to come up with creative ways to shuffle funding to pay back a state loan, a deficit acquired in its School Nutrition Fund and to get the budget back in the black.

It was fortuitous and legal. And that particular consultant — and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic relief package — likely saved Wayne County Public Schools from financial disaster.

So, you would think that board members had learned something — that getting rid of expensive contracts would be top priority.

And if you have followed our reporting, you know one of the most expensive of those contracts is the one granted to current board attorney Richard Schwartz.

That’s right, the same Richard Schwartz who has pulled in millions of dollars from Wayne County Public Schools during his tenure as its attorney.

In just the last two years alone, he billed WCPS $468,613.35 and $487,833.84 for 2020 and 2021 respectively.

That’s nearly twice what the Wayne County government pays its three-person legal team in salary and benefits.

Over the years, several school board members have called for justification of the spending.

The late Rick Pridgen did it.

Len Henderson has asked to see the invoices.

And most recently, it was Jennifer Strickland who said it was time to open up a bid process with the goal of bringing the cost of legal fees way down.

But every time someone dared speak out against Schwartz, Board Chairman Chris West was right there to defend the expense.

It’s the old, “We get what we pay for” argument.

But here is the problem.

Wayne County Public Schools cannot afford a Rolls Royce attorney. Especially now.

So we were a little shocked when, as we thumbed through the 2022-23 budget, we saw the proposed spending for legal services.

Nearly $500,000 — $492,000 to be exact.

And in case you are screaming at the computer screen right now or, more likely, choking on your beverage, here are a few more points to ponder:

• Schwartz’s firm is a far cry from the one that raked in nearly $1 million of your tax dollars over the last two years. In fact, the district re-affirmed his contract despite being notified that 9 of Schwartz’s 11 associates were leaving Schwartz and Shaw — that WCPS could break ties with the firm without penalty. At least one of the several other N.C. districts the firm represents used that opening to break ties with the pricey attorney. (More on that later.)

• West has explained away Schwartz’s high bills for years — even blaming board members and Central Office staff for numerous calls for legal advice and not taking advantage of opportunities to be “trained” by the attorney in efficient use of his legal services.

• One of West’s more infamous defenses of Schwartz came after the district was billed more than $86,000 for phone calls from board members — despite the fact that, according to the firm’s contract, its $3,000 retainer includes “the availability of the firm for telephone and office consultation with the Board of Education.”

• Other than from Strickland, there has been very little mention in public meetings of seeking local bids for legal services. That’s right, local firms that employ local people and pay local taxes have not been given the opportunity to bid on this lucrative contract. At least, not yet. We believe there are board members who will join Strickland’s call for bids, like newcomer Craig Foucht who has shown a penchant for fiscal watchdogging — questioning a $45,000 training contract and voting no on the Wayne School of Technical Arts due to lack of funds. Let’s hope our faith is not misplaced.

But here is what you might not know.

We were not the only ones who questioned Schwartz’s high bills.

The Wilson Times also noted — and reported on — the seemingly exorbitant cost of legal fees for its local school district.

And when the Wilson County Board of Education was notified that the vast majority of Schwartz’s associates were leaving the firm, its members voted to let Schwartz go — unanimously.

Not our board. Most of its members — specifically West — spoke in support of Schwartz’s advice and work, even in the face of dumb-founding legal bills.

And yes, while board races are non-partisan, West is a Republican, who has campaigned on fiscal responsibility, one of the reasons he was elected to serve in the first place.

We know. We were there. Local Republicans railed at “irresponsible spending” by that school board and promised to clean up the mess.

Well, you can see how that turned out.

So, why does this matter?

Spending excessively on legal services means money does not go to other line items — superintendent salary, teacher and uncertified staff compensation, instruction, school maintenance, etc., etc.

If we only took the last three years and added up the difference between WCPS’ and Wayne County’s legal bills, we’re talking more than half-a-million dollars that could have made significant change elsewhere.

And here is why we need to act RIGHT NOW.

The vote on that budget is coming next month.

On Thursday, the board will meet to discuss — and possibly alter — the proposed spending plan ahead of that early May decision.

And there is another important deadline.

This Friday, early voting will open, and you will be asked to make some decisions about your school board.

Chris West is on the ballot.

So, too, is Wade Leatham.

Both voted to keep Schwartz.

There is another race, too, in District 4, in which three candidates are seeking to fill the impending vacancy of current board member Jennifer Strickland, who has decided not to run for re-election.

It is imperative that you know who stands for what and vote accordingly.

Foucht is on the ballot, too, but is running unopposed.

Those of you who have watched what has been going on in this county and this country know that the time to stay silent has passed.

You know that many of us have realized that there are people, Democrats and Republicans, who represent us who have forgotten what their job really is — to represent the people they promised to serve. Not to generate more self-important prattling. Not to create more cronyism, good old boy, back door or head-scratching deals.

We are ready to hold them accountable.

The relationship between West and Schwartz is curious — especially since West ran originally to clean up irresponsible spending in the WCPS Central Office.

So why would he uphold an obvious gusher of ill-advised spending?

Who knows.

But we should ask.

There are big problems in the county schools. If the current board does not call into question every bit of spending that could be used for the children and the betterment of education in Wayne County, we need new board members.

There is still time to analyze whether that is necessary.

Thursday’s budget discussions will give us that evidence.

We hope that the board’s special-called meeting will include questions about that legal services line item, and vigilant attention to other proposed spending.

But you can make sure it happens — before we face another call for cuts to services for the county’s children.

The proposed budget is online on the district’s website. Included with it is a comment form.

Fill it out and send it in by clicking here.

Or call your school board member.

Some of them are waiting — and will listen. They need and want to know what you think.

And just in case, prepare yourselves.

Lewis has prepared this budget, but it is not solely HIS budget — or the finance director’s.

Lewis, to his credit, has made fiscal responsibility a priority. He has stuck to the recommendations on staffing and pushed for increases in non-certified salaries — important steps as competition to keep staff gets even more intense.

He is operating within constraints, limits. He has to.

Fighting for more funding and pushing for responsible decision-making on where money goes is the responsibility of many people.

There has been input, too, from members of the board’s Finance Committee.

But make no mistake, this budget will have West’s fingerprints all over it.

To believe that he has not been instrumental in decisions on where to spend money is naïve.

And to sit back and wait for the board chairman who was there when the last budget crisis was discovered — and at the helm during many of those years when the money was spent, by the way — push through another spending plan without public input, well, that is just dangerous.

We, the public, have a responsibility to give him some feedback on what our priorities are for our schools and for our children and grandchildren’s education.

Speak up.

Now.

Or don’t and watch as the “we’d like to, but we can’t afford it” administration continues.