Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Panel: Schools should review tech buys
Audit finds problems in Broward’s spending of $17M on interactive TVs
The Broward School District should examine five years of major technology purchases after auditors found lax controls in the purchase of $17 million worth of interactive TVs, its Audit Committee agreed Thursday.
Committee members were alarmed that an outside audit confirmed the district indirectly bought Recordex flat-screen panels — devices that function as TVs, computers and projectors — from EDCO, a Georgia-based company with close ties to Tony Hunter, the district’s chief information officer during two stints between 2013 and 2019.
In 2018, Hunter bought a house from EDCO President David Allen at $117,740 below its appraised value, and nearly $200,000 below what a similar house next door sold for a few months later, according to property records, Hunter and Allen said the house was in need of numerous repairs and was sold “as is.” Hunter now works as a vice president for a company owned by Allen.
Superintendent Robert Runcie ordered the audit of the Recordex purchases after the South Florida Sun Sentinel raised questions to district administrators and School Board members. A review by the Sun Sentinel found the district paid twice as much as MiamiDade schools for similar devices.
The district sent the audit over to the State Attorney’s Office for review.
In addition to spearheading the Recordex purchases, Hunter oversaw two major contracts totaling $96 million for Lenovo computers. Many teachers and some School Board members complained that the computers the district were bought were of cheap quality and frequently broke down, resulting in the nickname “Le No No.”
The district has also struggled with implementing maintenance and construction software bought during Hunter’s tenure. Several other technology purchases, including one for cloud storage and streaming services, have been criticized because the district didn’t seek competitive bids.
District officials do not
have to follow the recommendations of the Audit Committee.
After the committee meeting Thursday, district spokeswoman Kathy Koch did not respond to a request for comment. Hunter also didn’t respond to an email request for comment Thursday. Auditors were unable to reach him for their review.
EDCO released a statement through spokeswoman Audrey Young which said in part, “we take full compliance with all applicable regulations and laws very seriously in order to meet our mission of providing innovative educational technology and helping create the classrooms of the future.”
Audit Committee member Mary Fertig said it’s important to review purchases under Hunter since the COVID-19 crisis has made technology “such a critical part of our school system. We need to make sure everything is being done right.”
School Board member Heather Brinkworth, who initially requested the audit, said she supports a deeper look.
“My biggest concern beyond whether or not Mr. Hunter broke the law and should be held accountable is what is it we need to do differently to ensure nothing like this happens again,” Brinkworth said.
No district staff members were able to explain why Recordex was chosen, either to the Audit Committee or to HCT, a Hollywoodbased accounting firm that conducted the review.
“It appears for the whole purchase, the controls were not in place, procedures were not followed,” said committee member Connie Pou, a retired Miami-Dade schools finance administrator.
Hunter led the effort to bring about 3,000 Recordex boards into libraries and classrooms starting in 2015, using both state dollars and money from an $800 million bond approved by voters in 2014.
Hunter told the Sun Sentinel last fall that he hadn’t steered business to any vendor. “I have not ever acted unethical in any way related to any of my responsibilities as a public servant,” he wrote then in an email.
District officials appeared to make no effort to consider whether Recordex — a small player in an industry dominated by brands like Promethean and SMART — provided the best value for the district, the audit found.
Most of the devices were bought using a giant audiovisual product bid package from 2016 that included 322 different products. Recordex accounted for $16 million of the $22 million spent on that contract from 2016 to 2019 and should have been bid out separately, auditors wrote.
EDCO supplied the devices, which were sold to the district through Dell Marketing.
Audit Committee members were especially alarmed by the district’s decision to split a nearly $1 million purchase of boards in 2015 and 2016 into two contracts, both of which were just under $500,000. Purchases over $500,000 require competitive bidding and School Board approval. However, auditors didn’t cite this as a problem.
“They were actual separate initiatives. One was to put them in media centers, the second was for something else,” James Patton, an auditor with HCT. “It was billed as two separate projects.”
However, committee members said there’s no reason the contracts, which were awarded within a few months of each other, couldn’t have been combined. They said neither state law nor district policy allows contracts to be split up if the intent is to avoid a competitive process.
“If somebody is trying to or may inadvertently take one item and go just under the threshold, that’s an egregious violation that needs to be documented,” committee member Bob Mayerson said.