Marshall County Schools - 2008 FOIA Requests

New Development! After contacting the WV State Auditor's Office and presenting them with the information COG collected during 2007, Ms. Adela M. Cortez, Field Director in the Chief Inspector Division responded:

I have reviewed the information you have provided. After that review I do have concern about bid procedures for the materials and supplies and any cost for materials and supplies or personnel that the BOE may have incurred. In addition, after reading the minutes, there is a concern that any building built after Jan 26, 1992 must be ADA compliant.

In light of those concerns - our office has contacted the CPA firm contracted to conduct the FY07 audit of the Marshall BOE, in order to share our concern in this matter and ask that they expand their audit work to include these matters.

Let's review some facts:

• On 9/26/2007, Annie DeGenova's puff piece in The Intelligencer quoted BOE vice-president Dave Hall as saying that bids were not required for the press box's construction.

• In the same article, BOE president Roger Lewicki backed up Hall's statements, and added that all the money used for the press box project came from state grant money.

• The "state grant money" was actually a budget grant digest, was well under the amount that's actually been spent, and was disbursed in 2005.

• Any money received in a budget grant digest that's carried over and used in another fiscal year requires an "earmark" entry in the budget. The BOE has not been able to show us where that earmark is in the 2006-2007 budget.

• On 12/18/2007, Intelligencer Executive Editor Mike Myer stated in an editorial:

  ...administrators and teachers in the three counties cannot rest upon their laurels. In particular, they should be concerned about voters who did not want the levies to be renewed. What are their complaints? Do those concerns have merit? If so, what can be done about them?

Mr. Myer, it appears those concerns do have merit. As a result, the BOE's normally routine audit will now be placed under a microscope.