Auditor General DePasquale Says Bangor Area School District Paid Ex-Superintendent $142,000 for No-Work Consultant Job
Calls position an egregious waste of education funding
Auditor General DePasquale Says Bangor Area School District Paid Ex-Superintendent $142,000 for No-Work Consultant Job
Calls position an egregious waste of education funding
HARRISBURG (Sept. 21, 2015) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today said Bangor Area School District in Northampton County wasted more than $142,000 in education funding when it agreed to pay a former superintendent for a “no work” consultant position.
“There’s no other way around it,” DePasquale said. “This agreement was an immense disservice to students and taxpayers. I want to ensure that every available dollar of education funding goes toward classroom learning.”
The agreement—signed by district officials in 2012—paid the former superintendent more than $142,000 and included language stating that she would receive that payment even without providing any work product. Auditors found $18,975 in payments to the former superintendent were improperly reported as for retirement wages.
The school board refused to disclose its rationale for such an agreement, citing confidentiality reasons. The district also failed to provide any evidence that the former superintendent did any work for her consulting compensation.
“There’s no excuse for this egregious waste of taxpayer money — money that should have been used to help students,” DePasquale said.
The report also included two findings related to errors in reporting student data to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for 2010-11 and 2011-12 that resulted in the district receiving an overpayment of $103,676 and an under payment of $39,583; resulting in a net overpayment of $64,093.
The Bangor Area School District audit report is available online here.
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