Lincoln-Way D-210 board seeks forensic, external audit

FRANKFORT – Thousands of Lincoln-Way parents got their wish Thursday as Lincoln-Way District 210 board members decided to pursue a forensic and annual external audit of finances.

After a closed session meeting – taking place at North high school – the board unanimously voted to direct administrators to develop a Request For Proposal for a forensic and annual external audit, with a time period to be determined later.

The measure drew support from even Board President Kevin Molloy, who said before the board meeting that he would not support a forensic audit as recommended by board member Christopher McFadden in a Sept. 8 memo.

“It’s always good to have a another set of eyes to look at every transaction,” Molloy said.

Before the vote, tensions ran high between the board and public as McFadden grilled the district’s longtime auditor Edward McCormick of Mulcahy, Pauritsch, Salvador & Co., who presented his 2014-15 audit report.

In one question, McFadden asked McCormick about the practice of using money from a certain fund for other purposes, such as using money from the transportation fund to clean floors.

“Is that something that you should be telling the board that you notice?” he asked.

McCormick said if that transaction was selected for testing in the audit then it would be discussed. McFadden then asked how much of the budget the auditors test for these kinds of transactions and asked for a ballpark figure.

“As far as looking at the specific transactions? It’s probably somewhere between 1 and 5 percent,” McCormick said, with the audience sighing behind him. “That’s acceptable by auditing standards.”

He said MPS must go through peer review and their procedures have to be reviewed by an outside party. MPS, which does auditing for other school districts, received a high grade for their practices, he said.

McFadden also asked if MPS has met with the board audit committee in the last 20 years. McCormick said no.

Residents demanded an expansive audit with a petition that gathered more than 2,300 signatures. That petition went into the hands of Ronald Sawin, assistant superintendent of business, at Thursday’s meeting.

Molloy said district attorney Hauser Izzo LLC would attend the meeting to provide guidance on questions in closed session but he declined to go into specifics.

The board approved the fiscal 2016 budget in two parts as McFadden said he needed to abstain because the budget contained federal money. As a federal employee he was told he could not vote. He abstained in one of the votes on the budget.

Public comment was fierce with criticism from residents, with parent Todd Velky demanding the resignation of all board members – except McFadden and Ronald Lullo – for being financially irresponsible. The audience exploded with applause after Velky’s comment.