At the candidate debate I bought up the issue that our Board of Ed was not properly audited pursuant to CT Statue 7-392. That there were material weaknesses and material non-compliance in the production of the financial statements utilized by the Town Council in formulating and approving our 13-14 budget. That SPED grants were improperly used.
12 Hours later the following comes out in Darien:
Investigator: Special Ed Reported Expenses May Be Wrong
"[T]here may be errors in the reporting for special education expenses in submissions to the State of Connecticut for the Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant."
The following news release was sent out by First Selectman Jayme Stevenson's office on behalf of Stevenson and Darien Board of Finance chairman Liz Mao at 3:18 p.m.:
Jayme Stevenson, First Selectman and Liz Mao, Chairman of the Board of Finance for the Town of Darien will be holding a special joint meeting of the Board of Selectman and the Board of Finance on Thursday evening, Oct. 31 at 8:00 p.m. to discuss and ratify the engagement of McGladrey LLP to conduct a Special Audit in connection with Special Education expenses submitted to the State of Connecticut.
Late afternoon, Oct. 25, 2013, the First Selectman and Board of Finance Chair , were notified that the attorney for Investigator Sue Gamm had notified McGladrey, LLP, the Town of Darien’s auditors, that there may be errors in the reporting for special education expenses in submissions to the State of Connecticut for the Excess Cost Reimbursement Grant.
Betsy Hagerty-Ross, Chair of the Board of Education was also notified. Liz Mao immediately requested that a conference call with the auditors and the Board of Finance’s Audit Committee be scheduled as soon as possible. This call was held on Monday afternoon October 28, 2013.
Jayme Stevenson, Betsy Hagerty-Ross and Acting Superintendent Tim Canty were also on the call. McGladrey LLP has been notified of the Special Audit request pending Board of Finance approval.
“Liz Mao and I acknowledge the serious financial implications this new information may have for our town. It’s our mutual desire to immediately engage our auditors to detail the existence and extent of any reporting errors and to keep the public well informed.”
Jayme Stevenson, First Selectman
Liz Mao, Board of Finance Chairman
