We were unable to livestream the Board Policy Committee Meeting yesterday, but you can find a recording and transcript of it at this link.
The Board Policy Committee Agenda can be located here.
This is my overall takeaway from the meeting:
During the last meeting, I suggested the district do a forensic audit of every purchase order and request for proposals processed since Superintendent John Ramirez’s tenure began.
Were all the regulations, including the ones that were added to our policies yesterday, adhered to in the past? When asked whether there were policies that our district has not been following in the past, I was told that our district has been following all policies, even the ones that just went into the BPs and ARs yesterday.
But the FCMAT report indicates that more than half of the transactions they reviewed lacked purchase orders or formal approvals. What other elements were absent? What plans does the district have to address past conflicts of interest and/or profiteering?
The federal government is unlikely to overlook violations in the expenditure of federal funds, regardless of whether we had regulations in place or not. It’s possible that future funding could be at risk.
While it’s commendable that the district is now adhering to state requirements, we cannot simply ignore the events of the past few years. A forensic audit could also aid the District Attorney in holding individuals accountable, if a serious investigation is actually underway.