Audit Of Bonner Schools Has Feel Of Repeated Lesson Trustee Says Problems Linger; Superintendent Disagrees

The Bonner County School District overspent budgets, still has a deficit and lacks supervision by central office administrators, a recent audit report said.

The 48-page report, which was released this week, was the result of a routine audit paid for by the district. It echoed the same problems noted in a July review of the district by the state Department of Education.

At least one school trustee is miffed, saying Superintendent Max Harrell and his fellow board members have done little to correct problems.

“I think we fared terribly,” trustee Jerry Owens said of the audit findings. “It confirms the state report, which I found very disturbing in respect to the lack of leadership in this district.”

The audit was presented to school trustees at a public meeting Tuesday. Even though some serious problems were noted, neither Harrell nor trustees commented on the report.

“I find it very interesting that no board member had any questions in public about the findings,” Owens said. “I’m tired of standing out there by myself and being taken as the troublemaker, but we obviously have problems.”

Harrell agrees there are concerns about district operations, but said those are being addressed, as are problems pointed out in the state report.

“People are saying nothing is being done, but look what’s happened in the budget,” Harrell said. The district was expecting a $415,000 deficit earlier this year, but it was reduced to about $82,000. Some extra cash came from the state, but the district also made some cuts.

Harrell said administrators and other department heads are correcting deficiencies. “A lot has been done and a lot continues to be done,” he said, adding there were no surprises in the audit.

Enid Trenholm, president of the teachers union, and Owens said if changes are being made, they’re being done without input from teachers, the public or board members.

“What has happened with the state report is a big question for us,” Trenholm said. “We have not seen or heard anything about it. The community needs to be involved in coming up with solutions. We need to work together, not go off individually.”

Owens said he was told there was a plan to address the state’s concerns about the district and recommendations would be made to fix problems. “To my knowledge that has never taken place. My concern is, we have not acted on the state report or the audit.”

The audit said the district allowed some departments to overspend their budgets, a violation of state regulations. It also highlighted a lack of communication within the district that results in inefficiency.

The problem isn’t a lack of a communication, it’s a lack of personnel, according to Harrell. Cuts in central office staff left the district without enough people to oversee programs.

“We are really short-staffed and that keeps reappearing and causing problems,” he said. “If this were a private business, they wouldn’t try to get by with the minimal number of staff we have.”

If both the audit and state report pointed out communication problems there must be something wrong, Owens countered.

For example, Owens said, Harrell, trustees and the union are confused about a new contract with teachers. It was accepted by the board in September and is awaiting Harrell’s signature to make it official.

The superintendent said there were questions about language and payroll in the agreement and it had to be retyped. Trenholm said those issues were resolved and she asked Harrell to sign the contract Oct. 13.

, DataTimes