School board to hold special meeting
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on April 3, 2016 1:45 AM
The Wayne County Board of Education will hold a special called meeting Monday to discuss, among other things, the annual audit for fiscal year 2014-15, after several bristled at the March meeting over the idea of "rubber stamping" something they had not had an opportunity to review or discuss.
Michael Jordan, auditor with Carr, Riggs and Ingram, the firm contracted by the district to provide the annual report of its financial matters, presented the audit at the March 7 board meeting.
But instead of voting to approve the report, the board ultimately settled upon saying, for the time being, they would "accept it" until further discussion.
Typically, a member of the firm meets with the board, either in full or during committee session, in advance of the regular board meeting, at which time an overview of the audit is presented and the board has an opportunity to read through and ask questions.
Board member Jennifer Strickland said she was "highly annoyed and agitated" that did not appear to have happened.
"Any question that I would have for you, we could have gone through this and we would be prepared for you tonight," she said. "I absolutely have a problem with that. I will be reading every page of this book."
Jordan said the report had been submitted to the state as required by the contract.
"It has not been accepted by this board so you have the opportunity to take this under advisement to approve it now or at a later date," he told the board at the time.
Board member Rick Pridgen said he was also "uncomfortable" that a different approach had been taken this year, with the board not being given a copy of the audit in advance.
Fellow board member Dwight Cannon said he agreed with his colleagues.
"Had we had this previously, the public could be made aware. I don't know if there's going to be a special session to call you back," he told Jordan. "How do we approve this? I don't like rubber-stamping.
"I'm not going to vote to approve something (I haven't read). This is outside the audit. I'm not going to approve it because you could have gotten something wrong."
Jordan said he understood the concerns.
Board Chairman Chris West said the contract is a "three-party agreement" between the district, the state and the school board.
"It has to be approved by all (three)," he said. "We (the district) have approved it by issuing it, the state has approved it and now we (the school board) has to approve it."
With that, the decision was made to "accept" it rather than approve it, pending further review.