Board’s Financial Negligence Betrays Public Trust, heads should roll

The recently released audit of the Monroe City School Board paints a damning picture of financial mismanagement and neglect that should outrage every taxpayer and parent in our community. The sheer breadth and depth of the failures uncovered reveal a school board asleep at the wheel, seemingly oblivious to its sacred duty to safeguard our children’s educational resources.

Complaints about school finances from former board members Vickie Krutzer and Nerissa Bryant have been ignored for years, but began to come to light last year with the indictment of former superintendent Brent Vidrine.

That was the tip of the iceberg; last week’s audit report was scathing, in-depth, and troubling, especially since the board concurred with all of the report’s findings.

What’s interesting is that the board knew of findings before they were published, but no one has been fired or held accountable. Board members continue to show up each month, say the pledge of allegiance, fail to take any corrective action, collect their checks and go home.

Is anybody listening? From the halls of our high schools to the offices of the former superintendent, a culture of financial impropriety appears to have taken root and flourished under the board’s negligent watch. The litany of infractions is staggering: misappropriated student activity funds, double-dipping on employee pay, undocumented cash transactions, and even a former superintendent allegedly falsifying documents for personal gain.

This is not mere bureaucratic bungling; it is a fundamental betrayal of the public trust.

The board’s failure to implement and enforce basic financial controls is inexcusable. How can we expect our children to learn the value of integrity when the very institution charged with their education can’t even balance its own books? The negative fund balances across multiple schools aren’t just numbers on a ledger – they represent lost opportunities for our students, resources that should have been invested in their futures.

Perhaps most alarming is the board’s apparent indifference to these issues. The audit notes that board meeting minutes failed to reference updates on resolving prior year findings. This suggests a pattern of willful ignorance, a board more interested in burying problems than addressing them head-on.

The misuse of federal funds is particularly egregious. At a time when every educational dollar is precious, to see over $88,000 in questioned costs across critical programs like Title I is nothing short of shameful. This isn’t just financial mismanagement; it’s a direct theft from the students who need these resources most.

While the board has offered assurances of corrective action, we’ve heard such promises before. The time for half-measures and empty pledges has long passed. We call for:

  –An immediate, independent investigation into all financial practices, with findings, including names, made fully public.

–The resignation of board members who failed in their committee chair oversight duties relating to these problems.

–Implementation of stringent new financial controls, with regular public reporting on adherence.

–A public town hall where board members and administrators answer directly to the community they’ve failed.

We don’t expect any of our suggestions to be done. They will be dismissed just as the warnings of Mrs. Krutzer and Mrs. Bryant were dismissed.

Our children deserve better. Our teachers deserve better. Our community deserves better.

It’s time for a clean slate and a renewed commitment to financial integrity in the Monroe City School System. Anything less is a continued disservice to every stakeholder in our educational community.

The citizens of Monroe must demand accountability. Our children’s futures hang in the balance.