“The only reason it's to ‘at least 2008’ is because that's as far back as we have records to examine,” said superintendent Demetrus Liggins at a Thursday briefing.
That includes inaccuracies in record keeping, invoicing and revenue collection. Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said the district’s fund balance is much lower than reported and its revenue projections could also be overstated, though no concrete numbers have been shared.
Multiple audits of the school system have been taking place after a $16 million shortfall was discovered in last year’s budget, alongside a shrinking contingency fund. The inaccuracies were found as part of those audits, though the results aren’t expected to be finalized for months.
“These practices are sometimes nuanced and not easily identified through routine financial reports that are provided to the superintendent and the board. Some of these things would not have been readily apparent based on the information typically generated,” Koch said. “We're talking about drilling down, not the high-level information.”
In February, Superintendent Liggins was found to have violated school board policy in an independent report. That report said Liggins did not keep the school board fully informed of the district’s financial situation and failed to properly oversee the district’s finance and budget departments, though not intentionally. Liggins has since said he plans to be more involved in the district’s financial operations.
Liggins said he expects to deliver an accurate April financial statement to the school board next month. District leaders are also planning to request a short-term loan to cover the district’s finances until fall.
Two unnamed finance employees have been placed on paid administrative leave in the meantime.
“We cannot wait for the results to be taken now in order to fix our financial house. The time is absolutely now to ensure that we get our financial house in order,” Liggins said.
