Those interested in drilling down to exactly how the School District of Lee County spends money will now be able to access budget information, school-by-school, online.
In addition, reports of waste, fraud or abuse of dollars will now be evaluated by an independent source: the Lee County Clerk & Comptroller's Office of the Inspector General.
The announcements were made by Superintendent of Schools Denise Carlin and Lee Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Kevin Karnes in an afternoon press conference Monday.
The Inspector General’s office already conducts audits and investigations for the Board of County Commissioners, the Port Authority and the Clerk. It will now add Lee Schools to that list at no charge.
Both measures are meant to enhance fiscal responsibility and transparency, said Carlin in making the announcement.
“During my campaign as superintendent and nearly every day since taking office I’ve heard the same question from parents and taxpayers: ‘How is the school district spending their dollars?’” said Carlin.
The budget documents are available here.
Regarding fiscal responsibility, Carlin outlined the changes she has made since taking office a year ago. During her first six months in office, she said, she mandated that each department cut their budget by at least 5 percent. She also reorganized the central office to “remove unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and to improve our efficiency. These actions resulted in $17 million in savings to this district.”
“More reductions are coming,” she said.
Having the Inspector General's office handle investigations has been under discussion for a couple of years, she said.
Examples of fraud, waste and abuse would be the stealing of resources or money, Clerk and Comptroller Karnes said.
Reports of suspected fraud, waste or abuse may be made anonymously at www.leeclerk.org/reportfraud. In the event of a report, the inspector's office will determine whether an investigation is warranted, conduct an investigation and report back to the school system, Karnes said.
All investigations will be matters of public record.
Schools spokesman Rob Spicker said that the system receives about 10 reports of suspected fraud, waste or abuse a year.
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