Auditor general addresses Martell’s remarks
The state auditor general said Tuesday his office has made no recommendation to Connellsville Area School District to shutter its vo-tech, contrary to what school officials have expressed.
In a prepared statement, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale addressed comments made at last week’s school board meeting regarding the fate of the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center (CTC), saying he was “puzzled by some inaccurate statements” made by school officials regarding his recommendations in a recent performance audit of the district.
Last week, Connellsville Superintendent Phil Martell presented the board with a cost analysis of the CTC, prepared in response to the audit published earlier this month.
In his presentation, Martell said it would cost the district an additional $1 million a year if it were to follow recommendations made by DePasquale’s office, whose audit indicated that the district was struggling financially due to costs associated with operating the vocational school.
During the presentation, Martell said, “What was proposed by the auditor general, to send these kids somewhere else and shut the doors on that building, is not educationally the best direction this school district could take, but financially it makes no sense.”
According to Martell’s report, outsourcing students to another vocational school would cost the district an additional $1 million compared to the district’s current costs to operate the CTC.
DePasquale stressed that the audit did not suggest closing the CTC.
“To the contrary, we call for increasing revenue for the CTC by increasing the number of students enrolled and expanding the programs offered,” said DePasquale.
“Residents and leaders in the Connellsville Area School District who read our report can plainly see that our five recommendations are intended to help strengthen educational opportunities for students,” DePasquale added.
The audit recommends that the district develop a long-term financial plan to address its declining fund balance and increased long-term debt.
It also proposes the district require administration to present for approval specific plans addressing management of the general fund balance, liquidity, support of the CTC, debt management, enrollment trends and the potential disposition of unused or underutilized capital assets.
As part of the first recommendation, the audit further suggests the district consider establishing a minimum required general fund balance, reviewing the costs to operate the CTC, developing a long-term debt management strategy and possibly consolidating schools.
Martell, however, said the district stands by the comments made during the cost analysis presentation, and that the suggestion to close the CTC came during discussions between the auditor general’s office and the district prior to the audit being released.
Martell referred to a letter by school director James Duncan written in December and posted on the district’s website in response to the suggestion, in which Duncan discusses the benefits the CTC provides its students and the costs that would be associated with sending those students to another vocational school.
“This came from discussion with the auditor general’s office. The letter just does not just appear by itself without a reason. (The auditor general’s office) drove the issue,” said Martell.
Martell said the district asked the auditor general’s office about possible solutions to its financial crisis, with one suggestion being to close the CTC.
DePasquale’s report states the district initiated a “unique financial drain” when it established the CTC.
The audit shows a decline in the district’s general fund balance from $13.8 million in 2008 to $3 million in 2014, during which the district transferred $20.5 million from its general fund to the CTC fund because, the report asserts, the center does not generate enough revenue to cover its costs.
The audit states because the general fund is being depleted, funding of the CTC will have to be significantly reduced or suspended, and the district will have to either find alternate funds to support it or require it to operate in a way that can sustain itself.
Connellsville school directors have questioned the audit’s findings related to the expense of operating the CTC, citing recent renovations to multiple schools and excessive spending as reasons for the drain in funds.
DePasquale said he met last week with state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera to discuss the results of the audit, and the two agreed to continue to monitor the situation.