Add one more huge issue to the myriad of problems in QCSD. Apparently, the district has now fallen to the rock-bottom administrative level of the Philadelphia public schools. Both lack the necessary written guidelines, and record keeping, for receiving federal grants and funding. The difference is that Philly was caught, and is working to solve the problem. QCSD still tries to avoid acknowledging it.
Philadelphia was just cited by the U.S. Department of Education's Inspector General's Office for inadequate documentation for nearly $140 million in expenditures of grants and funding. In fact, the feds initially demanded the return of $17 million, but backed off because, basically, Philly just couldn't afford to return the money, citing a "devastating impact". It still faces being tagged with the "high-risk" label, meaning that it would be on a watch list for how it spends federal dollars. And, it could not just apply for grants, but would have to spend money out of its own pocket, then apply for reimbursement. This would cost the district millions in borrowing expenses.
The 130-page audit covered the 2005-06 school year, but some of the management practices called into question are only now being addressed. At the top of the list is scathing criticism for faulty bookkeeping and poor records management: grant money was improperly used to pay for ineligible salaries, the district failed to show what work some employees performed, and inadequately explained how some of the money had been used to pay for food, training materials, computers, and class trips.
To rectify this laxity, the Dept of Ed is requiring Philly to write more timely reports on the activities of teachers and staff whose salaries are paid for with grant money. The district will also hire an outside contractor to write a grants policies and procedures manual - something most school systems have but Philadelphia does not - and will then train employees based on the manual.
And despite the fact that most school systems have this grant-writing procedures manual, QCSD does not. We are apparently at risk for the same embarrassment and penalties as the big-city folks. But getting QCSD to admit it takes some doing. I tried to ask Superintendent Dr Lisa Andrejko, using the state's Right To Know Law.....
"Please provide full and complete information regarding any existing or proposed district rules and regulations for writing and/or applying for any type of grants or similar aid or funds. Please provide the name(s) and position(s) of any QCSD personnel who have applied for grants, aid, or funds in the past three years."
The answer didn't come from Andrejko, but from Alice Bishop, the Administrative Assistant and Right To Know Officer (and a really nice person) who has to take her orders from the Supe:
Your request is granted in part and denied in part as follows:
The job description for the Assistant Superintendent (Kathy Metrick) states: Assists the Superintendent in the development of federal and state funding/grant programs and assumes responsibility for their implementation.
Additionally, the Board of Directors grants permission to the Administration to apply for federal and state grants each year.
Part of your request is denied for the following reasons, as permitted by Section 705, Creation of Record: We do not have a record of QCSD personnel who have applied for grants for the past three years (underlining hers).
Please be advised that this correspondence will serve to close this record with our office as permitted by law.
Hmmmmmm. Seems like the district is in a hurry to officially close the record while something rather important is still missing. Where is the response to the existence of grant writing rules and regulations???
I wrote back: Alice - thank you for your response to my Open Records request. I acknowledge that you have informed me:
1) about the duty of the Assistant Superintendent to develop grant and funding programs, and
2) the district does not keep a record of personnel who apply for grants
However, there does not appear to be a response to my request for the actual documents regarding the district's rules and regulations. If they exist, please forward them in a timely manner. If not, please so state. Thanks very much.
The smoking gun answer arrived from Alice: "The district does not have rules and regulations for writing and/or applying for grants other than the following" (which then repeated the first response).
So, it seems that we have the same situation in QCSD that landed Philly on the government's watch list.... no knowledge of who in the district is writing for grants and funding, and no written guidelines and procedures on how those grants and requests are to be prepared. And, it would seem to follow that if the district has no knowledge of who is writing for grants, and there are no procedural guidelines, who knows how much money is being received, and how that money is being spent???? If QCSD was audited, just like Philly, how would we be able to respond???
And, of course, the next logical question: If we have none of the necessary records (and, apparently, we don't, or the district would have been required to turn them over in response to the Right To Know request), how much taxpayer money would we have to spend to create them - IF we were even permitted to do so years after the fact? And how much taxpayer money might we have to spend to repay the government for any improperly documented - or, even worse, completely undocumented - funding???
And, worst of all, how much taxpayer money would we have to spend if we were denied any federal grants unless we laid the money out first, and then sought reimbursement?
Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie angrily sacked his Education Commissioner, and defended the as-yet anonymous state worker who made a mistake on one question in a 1299-page educational funding grant application, and cost NJ $400 million in federal aid. It seems that the state had no procedures for having applications checked by anyone else - but it now will! Since QCSD doesn't even know who is applying for grants, it is unlikely that the aps have been cross-checked here either. What funding have we lost because of mistakes, even as benign as one question out of 1299 pages?
In huge, bureaucratic systems like Philly, or even the NJ state government, things like this are really no surprise. In QCSD they are just plain irresponsible.