Maria, this is excellent. The District seems to only wish to discuss things in abstract terms like Equity without regularly measuring and reporting how well they're actually serving Minority students Academically. For that matter, how well they're serving our children at large. The answer is not very well, especially given the vast resources they've been given to accomplish the task. Meanwhile they've been quite good at lavishing money on themselves (See Tom's handy links below) and their pet projects while misspending and miss accounting through poor practice. For crying out loud, on Monday's Board Meeting at 32:18
their Auditors flagged $575,845 that's gone missing from their bank accounts. Or as they euphemistically put it, "an unlocated difference of $575,845, where the financial statement balance exceeded the reconciled bank balance."
The empirical approach you propose is an excellent framework for focusing their efforts back on the Academic Outcomes and Financial Oversight this District needs in order to return to the levels it historically has been. My guess is they're going to fight you tooth and nail to not accept the rigor of these standards, which is exactly why they should be imposed. I wish you the best of luck in implementing this.
Wow Baker-Tilly did a real-ass audit this year instead of the formalities. Losing $575k is what happens when you don't have financial controls for decades
Unfortunately Tom, I wouldn't say they did do a thorough job, I suspect the $1.3M in Material Weaknesses were too big even for them to miss. This District needs a Forensic Audit, going back through the Horton years, in the worst way. Baker Tilly's been a bit too friendly and chummy with the board. Sleepily so, in fact.
In particular the Lease Certificate documents and their supporting evidentials need to be reviewed. They're in breach of almost every single debt covenant in those agreements. I think a Forensic Audit will reveal they're in breach of all of them. That takes some serious doing but that's exactly what we're dealing with here. I think the result of a Forensic Audit would look something like this:
So I actually talked to someone in the audit business at one point and we went through the Baker-Tilly audit reports. Their feedback was the audit reports were basically what you'd see for any district - they pull a few random records here and there, check it out, and also do some reconciliation work. But it general, it would not catch fraud, etc, it's more of a general check on the books. So to this end, I wouldn't say it's chummy but rather just ordinary business (which says a lot sadly, about the audit business)
But this year, they at least did a little bit more. Baby steps...
That’s great insight Tom. I think for a well-run, squeaky clean district that would suffice.
Given how much we’re outspending better academically better performing Districts it begs the question, where did all the money go. For an organization with a history of feather-bedding including nepotism, running wild with company credit cards, $100,000 luxury vehicles for senior staff, $575,000 missing from bank accounts and even the proverbial free lunch it may be, just might be, perhaps finally time for a closer look. A full Forensic Audit.
Or not, if we just want to normalize this and pretend it’s all ok. Just go ahead with the next big tax hike and hold our nose at the ongoing mediocre academic results.
I 100% agree with you, a full forensic audit and then let's go after the person(s) that started this whole mess, after all, it's tax payers money and we can't just turn a blind eye to this. It's disgusting and flat out wrong.
Thanks, Maria, for your interest in serving on the school board -no doubt a very public, demanding and complex job. All Evanstonians should be thankful that so many citizens are willing to take on this position.
Hi Mark! I’ve been waiting for you all morning! But now I’m in the car heading down to Champaign to cheer on the wild kits and I get pretty car sick reading in the car. Do you mind if I answer this tomorrow am?
Sure, take your time answering - tomorrow is fine or the next day...or the next. Whenever you get a chance. BTW I'd delay too if I was going the see the Wild Kits play - what a great event.
As you might have read in a couple of my other posts with other candidates I recently taught for many years and whenever school issues came up (no matter the topic) opinions always seemed to be driven by people's (unspoken but deep) feelings around this question.
Also, BTW, I don't have a perfect answer myself nor am I expecting any board candidate to have one either. It's a valuable exercise, however.
Hi Mark, Disappointing loss last night. Buckets weren't falling for our boys as they have in the past. Great season though!
The purpose of a school... There have been some great answers here from other candidates, but I want to answer authentically and without all the jargon. To me the purpose of a school is to create opportunities for children to learn about the world around them (science, math, literacy, social studies, physical health, the arts) and to learn to work with one another.
Three part question here: Do you support a full and complete & independent financial “forensic” audit of D65, going back to when the last referendum was passed—in order to get a handle on what has happened in D65 financially? And then, importantly share the findings with the community via open house two way Q&A forums? If you support, can we get your commitment to call for this at the first BOE meeting you attend as a new BOE member?
Given you were the recent recipient of some wild accusations and rhetoric in the online parent community I’m curious how you’ll try to improve the dynamics amongst parents.
How can we stop the extreme outbursts and attacks, and find ways to be respectful and have constructive dialogue and ask questions not just rushed judgements and outlandish attacks.
How comfortable are you with this rhetoric and how do you assure voters that you can help foster better relationships? The current discourse and bullying amongst parents does have a negative impact on our children.
Hi there - I have thought a lot about this over the last several weeks for obvious reasons. When the story about my husband came out on Reddit, I was so impressed by how Evanstonians called it out for what it was, "garbage." It was intentionally inflammatory. I have a website where anyone can send me a message if you can't find me online, or one of the many public events I have attended. If the person was actually concerned about my husband's job influencing my decisions on the school board (I will not address how offensive that was to me as a woman), why wouldn't they ask me? The only way to stop a fire is to withhold air, and the only way to stop the kind of hate coming out of that group is to stop watching it. The most precious resource we all have is time. I am choosing to spend my time working to rebuild our school district for all of Evanston's children. As a board member, I will do that by showing up in person or over email to talk through hard things. Online, especially when people are anonymous, they say things they might not say in person - which has fostered, both in Evanston and in our country, a society that talks past each other instead of to each other. Social media has done more to upset people and drive divisions in our community and country in the last several years than it has to inform. As a board member, our job is to create space for constructive dialogue, education and increased understanding of the issues facing our community, and I intend to do just that.
Maria, this is excellent. The District seems to only wish to discuss things in abstract terms like Equity without regularly measuring and reporting how well they're actually serving Minority students Academically. For that matter, how well they're serving our children at large. The answer is not very well, especially given the vast resources they've been given to accomplish the task. Meanwhile they've been quite good at lavishing money on themselves (See Tom's handy links below) and their pet projects while misspending and miss accounting through poor practice. For crying out loud, on Monday's Board Meeting at 32:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBg6CU2xw0&t=2168s
their Auditors flagged $575,845 that's gone missing from their bank accounts. Or as they euphemistically put it, "an unlocated difference of $575,845, where the financial statement balance exceeded the reconciled bank balance."
The empirical approach you propose is an excellent framework for focusing their efforts back on the Academic Outcomes and Financial Oversight this District needs in order to return to the levels it historically has been. My guess is they're going to fight you tooth and nail to not accept the rigor of these standards, which is exactly why they should be imposed. I wish you the best of luck in implementing this.
WOAH I DIDN'T EVEN CATCH THIS AUDIT ISSUE!! WHAT THE ...
Wow Baker-Tilly did a real-ass audit this year instead of the formalities. Losing $575k is what happens when you don't have financial controls for decades
I’ll add cash reconciliation to the list of metrics since it wasn’t apparently there
Yeah, like what the hell - nobody was doing reconciliation? That's like Accounting Best Practices 101
Unfortunately Tom, I wouldn't say they did do a thorough job, I suspect the $1.3M in Material Weaknesses were too big even for them to miss. This District needs a Forensic Audit, going back through the Horton years, in the worst way. Baker Tilly's been a bit too friendly and chummy with the board. Sleepily so, in fact.
In particular the Lease Certificate documents and their supporting evidentials need to be reviewed. They're in breach of almost every single debt covenant in those agreements. I think a Forensic Audit will reveal they're in breach of all of them. That takes some serious doing but that's exactly what we're dealing with here. I think the result of a Forensic Audit would look something like this:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/03/16/texas-school-district-and-former-cfo-charged-with-fraud-from-20-million-bond-sale/
So I actually talked to someone in the audit business at one point and we went through the Baker-Tilly audit reports. Their feedback was the audit reports were basically what you'd see for any district - they pull a few random records here and there, check it out, and also do some reconciliation work. But it general, it would not catch fraud, etc, it's more of a general check on the books. So to this end, I wouldn't say it's chummy but rather just ordinary business (which says a lot sadly, about the audit business)
But this year, they at least did a little bit more. Baby steps...
That’s great insight Tom. I think for a well-run, squeaky clean district that would suffice.
Given how much we’re outspending better academically better performing Districts it begs the question, where did all the money go. For an organization with a history of feather-bedding including nepotism, running wild with company credit cards, $100,000 luxury vehicles for senior staff, $575,000 missing from bank accounts and even the proverbial free lunch it may be, just might be, perhaps finally time for a closer look. A full Forensic Audit.
Or not, if we just want to normalize this and pretend it’s all ok. Just go ahead with the next big tax hike and hold our nose at the ongoing mediocre academic results.
I 100% agree with you, a full forensic audit and then let's go after the person(s) that started this whole mess, after all, it's tax payers money and we can't just turn a blind eye to this. It's disgusting and flat out wrong.
Thanks, Maria, for your interest in serving on the school board -no doubt a very public, demanding and complex job. All Evanstonians should be thankful that so many citizens are willing to take on this position.
A question I have for you:
What is the purpose of a school?
Hi Mark! I’ve been waiting for you all morning! But now I’m in the car heading down to Champaign to cheer on the wild kits and I get pretty car sick reading in the car. Do you mind if I answer this tomorrow am?
Hi Maria,
Wow! I didn't realize I was so popular😀!
Sure, take your time answering - tomorrow is fine or the next day...or the next. Whenever you get a chance. BTW I'd delay too if I was going the see the Wild Kits play - what a great event.
As you might have read in a couple of my other posts with other candidates I recently taught for many years and whenever school issues came up (no matter the topic) opinions always seemed to be driven by people's (unspoken but deep) feelings around this question.
Also, BTW, I don't have a perfect answer myself nor am I expecting any board candidate to have one either. It's a valuable exercise, however.
Hi Mark, Disappointing loss last night. Buckets weren't falling for our boys as they have in the past. Great season though!
The purpose of a school... There have been some great answers here from other candidates, but I want to answer authentically and without all the jargon. To me the purpose of a school is to create opportunities for children to learn about the world around them (science, math, literacy, social studies, physical health, the arts) and to learn to work with one another.
Thank you, Maria, for your thoughtful reply.
Three part question here: Do you support a full and complete & independent financial “forensic” audit of D65, going back to when the last referendum was passed—in order to get a handle on what has happened in D65 financially? And then, importantly share the findings with the community via open house two way Q&A forums? If you support, can we get your commitment to call for this at the first BOE meeting you attend as a new BOE member?
Hi Maria
Given you were the recent recipient of some wild accusations and rhetoric in the online parent community I’m curious how you’ll try to improve the dynamics amongst parents.
How can we stop the extreme outbursts and attacks, and find ways to be respectful and have constructive dialogue and ask questions not just rushed judgements and outlandish attacks.
How comfortable are you with this rhetoric and how do you assure voters that you can help foster better relationships? The current discourse and bullying amongst parents does have a negative impact on our children.
Hi there - I have thought a lot about this over the last several weeks for obvious reasons. When the story about my husband came out on Reddit, I was so impressed by how Evanstonians called it out for what it was, "garbage." It was intentionally inflammatory. I have a website where anyone can send me a message if you can't find me online, or one of the many public events I have attended. If the person was actually concerned about my husband's job influencing my decisions on the school board (I will not address how offensive that was to me as a woman), why wouldn't they ask me? The only way to stop a fire is to withhold air, and the only way to stop the kind of hate coming out of that group is to stop watching it. The most precious resource we all have is time. I am choosing to spend my time working to rebuild our school district for all of Evanston's children. As a board member, I will do that by showing up in person or over email to talk through hard things. Online, especially when people are anonymous, they say things they might not say in person - which has fostered, both in Evanston and in our country, a society that talks past each other instead of to each other. Social media has done more to upset people and drive divisions in our community and country in the last several years than it has to inform. As a board member, our job is to create space for constructive dialogue, education and increased understanding of the issues facing our community, and I intend to do just that.