In a very politically correct manner, and hidden in a long speech, the Lumberton School Board last night agreed that the Administration had been hiding millions of dollars from the School Board. While it is true that the federal grant money does not have to be voted on by the board in the yearly budget because the grant money comes in after the budget is already voted on, it is also true that once the money comes in the Administration cannot hide these funds from the School Board members who have been elected to oversee everything.
In a statement read by the School Board President, the School Board said that they cannot "fulfill their responsibility for oversight" as they were elected to do unless they know about all the money coming in and being spent. The School Board president said that from now on the School Administration must allow the Board to "review the use of these funds in the future." The School Board also said that they have "contracted an audit firm to conduct an internal audit" to do a complete review of the "the federal funds" that were hidden as well as all other financial operations of the District.
Did the school board make a big deal out of the issue? No. But that was expected because most school boards do not want bad press coverage. Did the school board do the right thing by telling the school administration to tell them about future money and by also hiring a firm to do a complete internal audit of finances? Yes! The Lumberton School Board, in a very quiet sort of way as to not bring attention to themselves, is standing up and fighting back. The people of Lumberton should be happy to know that their elected school board members are taking this issue of hidden money head on! Please note that this is a completely different school board than just a few years ago so the people did the right thing when they woke up and elected these new faces to the board. Now if only BISD could get some new faces to clean up their big financial mess....
Also note that my previous letter never mentioned anything about slealing money. The local newspaper did that. My previous letter simply said that they were not telling the school board about millions of dollars. The school board is elected by the people to oversee everything and the Administration CANNOT hide this money from them. Government needs to be more open and honest. I also believe there are Great people on the Administration and the Administration as a whole did nothing wrong. It was really one or two people that were not telling the School Board about the money... Lumberton ISD Superintendent Dr. Sims needs to come out and clarify what is going on here.
Sincerely,
David Bellow
mdbellow@gmail.com
You didn't mention anything about Perry's steep cuts to education in the Texas budget. That's a pretty important part of what's going on in Texas public education right now. Care to comment on your Governor's choice to slash monies to public schools and state higher education institutions?
ReplyDeleteI bet you could help clean up BISD better if you moved there -- just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteDON'T MOVE TO BEAUMONT. STAY IN LUMBERTON
ReplyDeletethe federal money came with strings attached like national standardized education and Texas having to pay 3 billion for new textbooks. Perry stood for Texas State rights and saved us money in the long run
ReplyDeleteIf you believe that then you are a bigger idiot than I had given you credit for. I guess you're fully aware of the "rainy day fund," then, and how Perry, with the swish of his Conservative pen, could save millions of teachers' jobs across Texas? The only money that was saved was the money that should have gone to education -- it was simply redistributed throughout the Texas budget in areas that Perry thought were more important (like maybe his salary and his mansion.) Teachers in the public school system as well as the state higher education system will not get a pay raise for years, on top of hiring freezes and cut backs. I guess that's a good way to save money, if you like having 35 kids in one classroom with one teacher with old textbooks. And although you've probably never bought any, textbooks are expensive, and that is what the budget is for! I also hate to tell you, Mr. Bellow, but national standardized education might not be a bad idea, considering how bad your Republican Governor, Dubya, jacked up Texas education with his "No Child Left Behind" grand idea. But I don't know how you'd know personally about all the problems in our public schools since your siblings, nieces, and nephews are HOME SCHOOLED.
ReplyDeleteAnd look! They don't even want you in Beaumont!
ReplyDelete