At the beginning of March NSA learned that Supt. Phillips given approval to the Academy of Character and Ethics to run as an alternative school, bypassing any input from the Educational Options Committee, the Board of Education, the Jefferson Design Team and public. We wrote a press release on March 7, raising the issues of openness and democracy as well issues around the sponsor of the ACE school, Mt Olivet Baptist Church, which has a history of politically supporting a ban on Gay Marriage. The press release resulted in lots of press coverage and last week PPS sent out a short letter from Rev. Martin of Mt Olivet, which said his church was going to pursue other avenues outside of PPS for ACE.

I started to think a lot about Phillips willingness to bypass PPS policy and the input of the board. Was it just miscommunication? Then I stumbled on this report on the State Audit from Pennysylvania. Apparently, Phillips has a history of bypassing school boards and doing backroom deals. Shortly after Phillips got to Portland, this report was made public. Her successor Ricardo Curry, is in trouble with the FBI. But somehow Phillips escaped any consequences other than warnings to be a better manager. By the way, Curry used to be head of Communcations when Phillips was Superintendent.

I am surprised and disappointed that more people have not questioned Phillips' integrity. Many people still seem to believe she is a "strong leader making tough decisions." How does Phillips get away with this stuff? Having a beefed up PR dept. seems to help. The report below came out a year and a half ago, and at the time the headline in the Tribune read "Portland Schools Chief downplays report". Wynde came out with a full vote of confidence. And now a year and a half later Phillips is doing the same thing she did in PA.

Read the excerpts from the report below. I think you will agree they sound eerily familiar.

http://5thestate.com/041214.htm

HARRISBURG (December 13) - A year-long investigation of the Lancaster School District made public today by Auditor General Robert P. Casey, Jr. details former Superintendent Vicki Phillips' failure to effectively monitor district practices, the school board's complete abdication of its responsibility to oversee district spending, and former Superintendent Ricardo Curry's brazen violation of the public trust.....

From 1997 through 2003, the district spent nearly $3.2 million on educational consultants who were hired for various services throughout the district. Overall, there was a 1,000 percent increase in the payments to consultants during this six-year audit period. Investigators found that nearly 70 percent of the funds - over $2.2 million - was paid for so-called consultant services with no written agreements between the district and the individual consultants. Investigators also found that the district had no written policy for selecting consultants; rather, during most of the six-year period, consultants were selected personally by Phillips, or by members of her staff. The school board's only participation in the use of consultants was the routine approval of specific payments to individual consultants shown on monthly payment lists. .....

District failed to manage a federally-funded program costing approximately $382,000
The district obtained grant funds from the U.S. Department of Education for the purpose of reducing expulsions and suspensions by reaching out to "at-risk" students and their families. In December 2000, the district entered into an eight-month contract with the Shalom Partnership of Lancaster, a non-profit corporation related to three Lancaster-area churches, to provide Cultural Translator services, at a net cost of $382,000., Investigators found no record of formal approval or authorization of the grant or agreement by the school board.
The district hired a grant administrator in January 2001 to manage the program. She had been previously employed by one of the churches related to the Partnership, found out about the position through the church, and was interviewed for the position by Curry and the church's pastor, despite having no record of experience in grant management. The grant administrator was laid off several months after the grant ended. She told investigators that she removed the district's records relating to the Cultural Translators program and destroyed them.
To verify that the Translators provided services paid for by the district, investigators contacted the schools where they reportedly worked. From the interviews with school officials, investigators concluded that there did not appear to be any set period of hours for the Translators; they did not have to sign in at the schools; and they did not have to report their time and activities to any school staff members. Investigators found no proof that the district conducted the criminal record background checks required by state law.
Without the essential documentation, OSI cannot verify a single hour of the approximately 27,000 hours billed to the district for the Cultural Translators. Yet the district managed to send a Final Grant Performance Report containing program data, signed by Curry, to the U.S. Department of Education in October 2003.
"According to the grant administrator's account, it appears that the records may have been intentionally removed to cover up mismanagement and questionable charges," Casey said. "Regardless of the reason, the school board, Superintendent Curry, and Superintendent Phillips completely failed to monitor the program and ensure that well-trained, law-abiding individuals were being sent into schools."