The question of whether Baltimore County Public Schools interim superintendent Verletta White should get the job permanently heated up recently as one member of the county council said he not only supports White, he also feels an audit of the system is unnecessary.
At the same time, with bribery and no-bid contracts at BCPS in the news, a 2015 legislative audit is gaining attention because it recommended that the system tighten controls around its no-bid contracts — something BCPS resisted.
Less than six weeks ago, all seven members of the Baltimore County Council sent a letter to the General Assembly asking for an audit of the school system’s no-bid contracts. The letter was sent after Dallas Dance, the former superintendent of BCPS, was indicted — but before he pleaded guilty to four counts of perjury.
The perjury charges were related to consulting fees Dance had failed to disclose. One of the companies that paid him fees also later received a lucrative no-bid contract with BCPS.
But Council Chairman Julian Jones now says he doesn’t think an audit is worthwhile. [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The idea of an audit is becoming a joke”[/perfectpullquote]
“I don’t see where an audit is going to do anything compared to an investigation by state prosecutors and the FBI,” Jones said, referring to the investigation of Dance and Robert Barrett, a BCPS official who recently pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return after being caught taking bribes.
“The idea of an audit is becoming a joke. What [people who support an audit] mean is they want investigation,” he said.
Councilman Jones
Jones is a staunch supporter of interim superintendent White, and less than a week after signing the letter asking for the audit, he appeared before the county Board of Education and urged them to give White the job permanently. He also sent out an email last week encouraging people to attend Tuesday’s public-input meeting designed to learn what the public wants in the next superintendent.
State Sen. Jim Brochin, who is running for county executive, said an audit is absolutely necessary. He noted that White said in a letter to the Baltimore County Senate delegation that BCPS’ procurement processes “are sound and, indeed, we have had clean audits and won numerous awards during the last two decades.”
But Brochin noted that in fact the last time BCPS had a legislative audit, in 2015, the report said the school system should change its procurement policies.
Advice from 2015 audit was resisted
“BCPS’ procurement policies did not require competitive procurements for certain contractual services. We recommend that BCPS amend its existing policies to require competitive procurement methods to be used for all contracts for services,” the audit said.
BCPS, which was led by Dance at the time, replied in the audit that it “complies with all applicable state, federal, and local statutes. State law is silent as to the purchase of services valued at $25,000 or more and BCPS’ Policy 3210, Purchasing Guidelines, Section VI., provides that BCPS shall have the option to issue bids, requests for proposals, or solicit price quotations for any requirements that do not require formal bids. BCPS’ Rule 3210, Purchasing Guidelines, Section V., provides for the establishment of procedures for informal bids, RFPs, and price quotations and these are incorporated in Purchasing Procedure 3210.006.” [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”BCPS’ apparent reluctance to establish a policy requiring competitive procurement for all service contracts is perplexing”[/perfectpullquote]
The auditor then replied: “Our report finding did not indicate non-compliance with State statutes by BCPS, but questioned the lack of a policy requiring the use of a competitive procurement process for all service contracts. A comprehensive procurement policy requiring competitive procurements for all types of purchases is a recognized best practice and it helps ensure fairness and integrity in the expenditure of public funds. Other Maryland school systems have established comprehensive policies, including competitive procurement requirements for service contracts. BCPS’ apparent reluctance to establish a policy requiring competitive procurement for all service contracts is perplexing given that its procurement manual already requires it to obtain price quotes for lower cost services (that is, services valued at less than $25,000).”
BCPS did not respond to the Flyer last week when asked if they had made any of the recommended changes.
Sen. Jim Brochin
“When vendors are paying tens of thousands of dollars to have access to the superintendents, and superintendents are serving on boards and people are paying to get the opportunity to speak to them, this isn’t how the procurement process is supposed to work,” Brochin said.
Brochin recently asked the state Board of Education to conduct an audit, but the board said it would only do so if it was approved by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz or the BCPS Board of Education, and so far neither has agreed to it.
A spokeswoman for Kamenetz said on Friday, “The County Executive supports the [Baltimore County] Board of Education conducting an audit and their taking whatever steps they believe are necessary to restore trust.”
Brochin said he wants to concentrate on public policy and procurement policies rather than focusing on White and whether she will get the job as superintendent.
However, when asked, Brochin said he thinks White should be given another one-year contract for now, although that would require a waiver from the state because the law requires that superintendents serve four-year terms that run from July 1 to June 30. Another one-year term would allow a new school board to select the permanent superintendent, Brochin said.
As of the November 2018 election, Baltimore County Public Schools is moving from an all-appointed Board of Education to a hybrid board; Brochin was the lead sponsor of the bill creating the hybrid board. There will be seven elected members (one from each councilmanic district), four appointed members, and one student member.
The school board is now weighing whether to conduct a national search for a new superintendent. The fact that the process hasn’t already been started means the board is “engaging in a game of chicken,” according to a commentary by board member Ann Miller on the website Maryland Matters.
She said that she believes White’s supporters do not have enough votes to give her the job permanently, so instead they are “intentionally creating delay until there is no time to conduct a search, knowing that permission for an extended interim year is extremely low. … It is my position that board Chairman [Ed] Gilliss has willfully neglected his duty, grounds for removal per state law.”
Gilliss did not respond to a request for comment. Miller also didn’t respond to a question about whether she is formally seeking to have Gilliss removed.
John Olszewski Jr., who is running against Brochin and Councilwoman Vicki Almond for the Democratic nomination in the county executive race, said he supports a legislative audit by the state.
“As County Executive, I will initiate a thorough review of our existing ethics laws and procurement processes to ensure there are strict limits on gifts and that no-bid contracts becomes the exception rather than the rule,” Olszewski said in an email, adding that he supports “a national search and I encourage interim Superintendent White to participate in this search.”
Almond’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Al Redmer
State Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, who is running in the Republican county executive primary, said in an interview that “as an executive myself under similar circumstances, I have done the full-blown search. And I have found that by doing a full-blown search, even if you hire from within, it adds perspective.”
“I, too, share the outrage over the former superintendent’s actions, and agree there is need for an independent audit. However I am equally troubled by the lack of governance and seeming disengagement on the part of the County Executive that has allowed for a disappointing culture to take root in which these and many other failures have become par for the course,” Redmer said in a Facebook post. “On day one, my first act as County Executive will be to create the Office of the Inspector General, tasked with implementing a top-to-bottom review of our entire county government.”
Pat McDonough, who is also running in the Republican primary, said he also thinks the decision on a permanent superintendent should wait for a new board.
“Frankly, this is a lame duck school board with some of the members in a relationship with Dallas Dance era and all its problems,” McDonough said in an email to supporters, whose subject line was “VERLETTA WHITE MUST GO.” “The extremely important decision of selecting the permanent superintendent should be placed in the hands of the newly elected school board that will take office in November.”
Councilman David Marks, who represents the Towson area, said he supports an audit by the state to look for any “irregularities in the procurement process” and he also supports a national search for a new superintendent.
Councilman Jones’ call for White supporters to make sure only one voice is heard at the public input meeting did not sit well with BCPS board member Julie Henn. Henn is running in the November election for the seat that represents the Towson area.
“Public input is the most important aspect of the process. I am angered and insulted by such blatant attempts to sway, undermine and ridicule the process. All opinions matter and we should encourage participation, regardless of views,” she said in a Facebook post. “This isn’t a PR campaign; it is a superintendent search. It is one of the most important roles of the Board and I, for one, take it seriously. I would urge our elected leaders to do the same.”
But Jones was unapologetic and said McDonough and others were working against White, so he had the right to vocally support her.
He said an outsider with impeccable credentials could “not come close to an employee who has worked with you for 25 years and who has stood the test of time.”
-Kris Henry,
The Towson Flyer
Does Mr Jones comprehend the extent to which the school board and elected officials have lost the trust of the pubic to hold the leaders of BCPS to high ethical standards? It has taken this scandal to finally reveal the depths of institutional dysfunction at BCPS and instead of hunkering down and protecting certain individuals we need leadership at all levels of government dedicated to holding BCPS accountable to changing the system so that this never happens again.