Meetings This Week
Monday
Executive Session with the Superintendent and labor partners. I suspect this is about the budget and the still-to-be closed $4M shortfall.
Tuesday
Audit and Finance Committee (Audit) from 4-6 p.m., agenda
It looks like continuing audit response follow-ups as well as a VAX update, laptops at Cleveland and Pay for K. There will also be an update on the search for a director for Internal Audit.
Wednesday
Executive Committee meeting, 8-10 am, agenda
Review of upcoming Board meetings, government relations, capacity management, "planning interim superintendent's feedback next fall", CFO/COO search updates, etc. No way they are getting thru this huge agenda in two hours.
Executive Session, 10-11 am - Superintendent evaluation
Community Meeting with Director Sundquist from 11-12:30 p.m., Delridge Library*
Work Session on the Budget - 4-5:30 p.m., no presentation or agenda posted yet.
Thursday
Audit and Finance Committee (Finance) from 4-6 p.m., agenda
Very sketchy agenda with "protocol for handling monthly statements", community schools report with an expenditure authorization, debarment policy (for wayward vendors) and a budget update.
*This time is likely to change unless he sprouts wings and can get from the headquarters to Delridge Library quickly.
Executive Session with the Superintendent and labor partners. I suspect this is about the budget and the still-to-be closed $4M shortfall.
Tuesday
Audit and Finance Committee (Audit) from 4-6 p.m., agenda
It looks like continuing audit response follow-ups as well as a VAX update, laptops at Cleveland and Pay for K. There will also be an update on the search for a director for Internal Audit.
Wednesday
Executive Committee meeting, 8-10 am, agenda
Review of upcoming Board meetings, government relations, capacity management, "planning interim superintendent's feedback next fall", CFO/COO search updates, etc. No way they are getting thru this huge agenda in two hours.
Executive Session, 10-11 am - Superintendent evaluation
Community Meeting with Director Sundquist from 11-12:30 p.m., Delridge Library*
Work Session on the Budget - 4-5:30 p.m., no presentation or agenda posted yet.
Thursday
Audit and Finance Committee (Finance) from 4-6 p.m., agenda
Very sketchy agenda with "protocol for handling monthly statements", community schools report with an expenditure authorization, debarment policy (for wayward vendors) and a budget update.
*This time is likely to change unless he sprouts wings and can get from the headquarters to Delridge Library quickly.
Comments
VAX: DeBell asked for an explanation of why the VAX migration took so long and took so much money. He asked this of Ratchford months ago when he announced the migration was complete. He recently reminded the super. I don't know what Ratchford can and will say. My semi-knowledgeable take is that much money and time was wasted. I can believe that it might cost a couple million and take a couple years, but it was more like seven million and six years (give or take). Most of this was before Ratchford's time, so what can he do but shrug? Would any suggestions for the future be useful?
Laptops: This is an audit issue. Of the laptops given to CHS kids, at least 36 have gone missing. While some loss is expected, these were not reported to the SAO in a timely fashion. Also, this will cost a bunch of money and our insurance covers only market value of the laptop (which drops significantly as they get older) and not anything else (peripherals, software, etc). (Since this is a current year issue, it will show up as a finding or exit item in the 2012 audit??) Also, the lost laptops account for something like 8% of all of the machines, so is this excessive compared to other laptop distribution programs? That's a question.
Betty was Pissed, truly Pissed as she reminded folks that she asked about this from day one -- what was the plan for lost and stolen laptops and no one ever responded. Also, while there is a contract with parents about paying for the lost ones, it is in conflict with the student handbook so perhaps not enforceable? Additionally, they were supposed to collect a deposit from each family. Guess what? They didn't! But they are real sorry and are doing that moving forward.
The Pay4K issue in the current audit is that when schools handled this, they were not good about collecting from everyone who should have paid. So that shows weak financial control.
Also, while there is a contract with parents about paying for the lost ones, it is in conflict with the student handbook so perhaps not enforceable? Additionally, they were supposed to collect a deposit from each family. Guess what? They didn't! But they are real sorry and are doing that moving forward.
So whatelse was to be expected from a proposal that took two School Board Action Reports both of which were highly flawed to produce this CLEVELAND STEM program on which the New Student Assignment Plan depended?
What are there no more carry-over funds from 30+ low income schools to divert to Cleveland STEM .... Oh right that was a one time deal.
So maybe the supposed transportation savings from the NSAP that were to make every school a quality school can now be diverted to Cleveland to pay for lost laptops. Oh yes how much is being saved?
How is that every school a quality school plan going?
Please MORE meetings ... these seem to be working out so well or NOT.