Auditor General’s report show lack of oversight with chilling potential
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
If you read through the auditor general’s report on the Coatesville Area School District and its financial performance — the implications of the report have to be chilling.
The short form is this: The district under-collected or overspent a total of $31.1 million during a seven-year period ending in 2012, including $4.9 million in 2012. The issues with overpaying the former business administrator’s retirement and failing to disclose or discuss the issue in public, are concerning, but sadly consistent with a pattern of behavior, documented in recent years.
But, and maybe this is the headline that goes not as well understood, two of the factors that led directly to the Chester-Upland School District ending up in receivership, repeatedly overspending revenue and growing charter school expenses as parents vote with their feet, are highlighted in the report on Coatesville. These are the sort of things cited when a school district is cited as “failing” by the state.
And despite the protestations of all being sunshine, lollipops and sparkly unicorns as some on the Board of Education and even the current administration would have you believe, the situation is increasingly dire unless major changes are made in the way this school district operates. The culture of denial on the district’s financial status, especially in an era when wealthy districts such as Unionville and West Chester are watching every last penny, is shocking.
Even if CASD were exceptionally well run, between crumbling property values and the impact of the spike in pension costs, these would be tough times, with tough choices and a lot of shared pain for the district.
Unfortunately, what we have is worse. Years of a total failure of this board to provide the oversight of finances — as clearly highlighted by the auditor general’s report. Years of approving spending when the funds weren’t there to spend. A failure to get regular updates — as virtually all other county districts do — on the budget and revenue status and to discuss them in public.
We have a litany of irresponsible spending, from millions for a new administration office to the million-plus dollars a year for legal advice that appears from here to have frequently been wrong and misguided, none of which will be easier to swallow if the district has to lay off teaching staff as it careens toward the fiscal abyss.
And while keeping tax increases to Act 1 limits may play well in the short term, nothing short of a maximum tax hike — with pension and special education exceptions added to the anticipated 2.6% increase — and a painful cut in spending is going to balance the books, if the current proposed 2014-15 budget was developed using the previous unreliable methodologies for forecasting revenue and spending.
For years, this district has juggled, tap-danced, and spun its way around this fact: It spends more than it takes in. When the reserve fund is gone, the very real specter of a Chester County school district not making payroll looms, which means one thing: a state takeover.
Make no mistake: A state takeover of the Coatesville Area School District would be a disaster. It would hurt students, parents, teachers and the greater school community. Worse, it would stall any hope of redevelopment in the city and hinder economic development initiatives in neighboring towns. In short, it would be a crushing blow.
One needs only to look at Philadelphia and Chester-Upland to see the results of a state takeover: a crippled, broken, dying school district.
And it could happen here. Really.
They’ll tell you it can’t happen, that such a suggestion is hysterical fear-mongering designed to increase page views or newspaper sales. They’ll tell you that Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is playing politics. They’ll give you chapter and verse of why it isn’t their fault, how they’re doing their job, just fine, thank you.
Just as they’ve done all along, every time it’s become obvious something is seriously wrong.
It’s up to you to decide which is right. For the sake of the community, it’s time not just to show up at one meeting and scream, but show up at every meeting and demand, politely, civilly but with determination, answers. Answers from the board of education and administration, especially as the budget process enters the detailed part of the development process between now and the end of June.
Challenge the assumptions, ask questions, and force them to make the math work.
If the board of education won’t do its job, the community must step up, force accountability, and insist upon a real, balanced budget and a frank, public discussion of the budget.
If not, maybe it won’t be this year. Or next year. But it will happen. A state takeover.
Is that the future you want for the Coatesville community?
