Ed board considers ‘expanded’ financial audit
BRIDGEPORT — Some members of the Bridgeport Board of Education want to take a closer look at the district’s finances following a flood of federal aid during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school board’s finance committee is considering an audit examining how and where the district has spent its budget in recent years, though the exact scope of the review has not been determined.
Committee Chairperson Joseph Sokolovic, who first proposed the audit, suggested at a meeting Wednesday that opening up the school system’s spending records would help build trust with the public.
“I do believe it would be a very good investment to put at ease a lot of minds who always suspect chicanery going on with our budget, and perhaps we can even find some efficiencies,” Sokolvic said.
Sokolvic argued the audit should be an expanded review of the district’s annual $277.9 million budget, including an analysis of contracts previously awarded by the board and the spending done by district administrators.
“I’m not really suspecting any kind of fraud, but I do believe we do need to expand our audit,” Sokolovic said. “It’s been called for in the community.”
Board Vice Chair Christine Baptiste-Perez suggested the committee narrow the review to the more than $150 million in aid the district received through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
The program was created in 2020 to help schools across the country address the impact of COVID-19. In Bridgeport, a portion of the funds have been used to cover the cost of afterschool programs, staff salaries, new technology and other items.
Much of the money remains unspent, though distinct officials have outlined where they plan to direct the aid. The school system has until the fall of 2024 to use the funds that were awarded in the third and most recent round of the ESSER program.
Baptiste-Perez, however, said she has struggled to explain to voters why the district still has fewer social workers than the number of schools, despite the influx in federal aid. She said her constituents have asked to see a breakdown of how those funds were allocated.
“Those are reasonable and fair inquiries from the public,” she said.
Marlene Siegel, the district’s chief financial officer, pushed back against Sokolovic’s proposal, warning an audit would be redundant. She said the district already undergoes a “comprehensive financial audit” by an independent firm each year to satisfy state and federal requirements.
Siegel said the public can access the reports online, along with other detailed financial information about the school system and federal aid. She also noted past audits have not uncovered any irregularities.
“If there were any findings, we would be sharing those findings and indicating the corrective action plan,” Siegel said. “But there have not been any findings. I don’t think there’s a need to consider the expenditure of district funds for any other type of audit.”
Siegel said hiring a firm to conduct an audit could cost anywhere between $20,000 to $100,000, depending on the scope of the work and the company chosen to perform the analysis.
The finance committee did not take action on the audit proposal and tabled the discussion. The threemember group is scheduled to meet next at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8.