HOB CONSTRUCTION FORENSIC AUDIT: Public Deserves a Thorough Vetting

Editor:

The School Board is preparing to engage the services of a forensic auditor to review the HOB construction project.  So far as I can tell, the Board, along with key administrators, are unanimous in their support of such an endeavor.   In most places, such an audit is standard operating procedure.

Who the Board ultimately selects to perform the forensic audit is very significant.  However, the scope of work expected from the auditor ultimately will prove to be much more important.

I understand that a rump group recently met to discuss the scope of work and to make recommendations to the Board.  That group believes that the scope should be limited to areas where the School District can reasonably expect to recoup money.  Such an approach is, I believe, very shortsighted.

We all remember the many problems, Superintendent Porter might call them challenges as he has a wont to do, associated with the HOB construction.  These include the height of the buildings, problems with the soil and no end of financial questions if not irregularities.  The list is long and deserving of scrutiny.

If the forensic audit is going to be a useful exercise to learn from mistakes, the auditor needs to be given carte blanche authority to range wherever the data takes him.  While recouping money is important, so, too, is determining what went wrong, why and who was responsible.  The public deserves a thorough and impartial vetting of the issues.

Dr. Larry Murray

Fiscal Watchdog and Citizen Advocate