Hello Again Neighbors,

Chapter 170 of the State of Connecticut Department of Education Regulations describing the duties and responsibilities of local school district Boards of Education states the following:

Sec. 10-222. Appropriations and budget. Financial information system. (a) Each local board of education shall prepare an itemized estimate of the cost of maintenance of public schools for the ensuing year and shall submit such estimate to the board of finance in each town or city having a board of finance, to the board of selectmen in each town having no board of finance or otherwise to the authority making appropriations for the school district, not later than two months preceding the annual meeting at which appropriations are to be made. The money appropriated by any municipality for the maintenance of public schools shall be expended by and in the discretion of the board of education. Except as provided in this subsection, any such board may transfer any unexpended or uncontracted-for portion of any appropriation for school purposes to any other item of such itemized estimate. Boards may, by adopting policies and procedures, authorize designated personnel to make limited transfers under emergency circumstances if the urgent need for the transfer prevents the board from meeting in a timely fashion to consider such transfer. All transfers made in such instances shall be announced at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board. Expenditures by the board of education shall not exceed the appropriation made by the municipality, with such money as may be received from other sources for school purposes. If any occasion arises whereby additional funds are needed by such board, the chairman of such board shall notify the board of finance, board of selectmen or appropriating authority, as the case may be, and shall submit a request for additional funds in the same manner as is provided for departments, boards or agencies of the municipality and no additional funds shall be expended unless such supplemental appropriation shall be granted and no supplemental expenditures shall be made in excess of those granted through the appropriating authority. The annual report of the board of education shall, in accordance with section 10-224, include a summary showing (1) the total cost of the maintenance of schools, (2) the amount received from the state and other sources for the maintenance of schools, and (3) the net cost to the municipality of the maintenance of schools. For purposes of this subsection, "meeting" means a meeting, as defined in section 1-200.

My reading of these regulations, under which all local school districts in the State of Connecticut are bound, states that the Hebron Board of Education's issuance of a credit card to Ellie Cruz was in violation of state regulations, both because -- by all appearances -- Ellie's use of the credit card was not necessary for emergency purposes when the Board of Education could not meet in a timely fashion, and transfers of funds necessary to cover Ellie's expenditures were not properly announced at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education. The failure to provide proper oversight of the monies that our residents of the Town of Hebron provide to the Board of Education for the care and education of our children, appear to not only be the fault of a former superintendent with surreptitious motives and personal aspirations, but also of members of the Board of Education.

There's a lot more to be read in the State regulations, which the State Department of Education may have some thoughts about regarding the failure of the Board of Education to properly account for the funds entrusted to them for the children. The following URL provides a link to these regulations:

search.cga.state.ct.us/surs/sur/htm/chap170.htm

I cannot end this message though without stating that, undoubtedly, all of us have at times erred at times in our decisions and trust of those around us. I recognize and commend the members of the Hebron Board of Education for all the work that they do over long hours and without compensation, for it's a challenging job for which they receive little recognition. I applaud them for their recent efforts to identify the former superintendent's misuse of the district's funds. What we need to use this opportunity to remember that we're all members of the same wonderful little Town of Hebron, and that we need to listen to one another without malice. Let's use this as a learning experience for all of us, and hold a well-publicized town meeting to discuss how to go forward. As a community, we can and need to rise above this, and remember that the reason that we work so hard and provide the schools with the monies that they need is for the children.

Thank you.

Can we hold them libel? Given what we know now it would be shear folly not to review everyone.

If we are going to get into correcting one another's word usage, I believe the word you're looking for here is liable, defined by Merriam-Webster as "obligated according to law or equity : responsible." And to be thorough, it would be sheer folly, not shear folly: "Nothing other than; unmitigated (used for emphasis): 'she giggled with sheer delight'."

You see, I can play that game too. But is it really an effective use of time/energy? As to your message re the auditors--I do agree with you--we also need answers as to why the auditors were not catching errors. And presumably we hired both Ellie Cruz and Bill Mazzara for their knowledge of school district financials. Yet Mr. Arum informed us that we were seriously lacking in our systems and controls. Deliberate on the part of both employees? Did one employee take advantage of another's ignorance? Was there collusion? And shouldn't the auditing firm have had knowledge re typical practices within a school district? Shouldn't they have picked up the weaknesses/errors?

And just as an aside, Hoya--your claims re the "personal attacks" by people from "this group"...seems to me your very first post on this web site was a personal attack of sorts, wasn't it? Pot calling the kettle black, hmmm?

I believe RBOE has called for an audit. The Town should do the same even though the people involved in the education department(s) are not the same as those that do budgeting for the Town of Hebron. We, as citizens, deserve full disclosure of the status of finances so we can make informed decisions when voting on the budgets. In all cases, if the information is complete and easy to follow, the boards might find their budgets being approved the first time around. The questions arise when presentations involve dancing around and not giving straight answers. Is it because those giving the information are not fully informed themselves or that they have an agenda that will not be attained when people have all the information?

Andover had a similar problem several years ago with an accounting firm that they hired to audit their records. The audit did not disclose the discrepancies that were apparently there.

I better not post after my bed time! Agree Hebronite, correcting other posters spelling is not a good use of time. I am more interested in the substantive contributions that will enlighten our community. I am cautiously optimistic the other boards in town will take this as a clarion call to examine their books. Given the Andover experience it matters who and what type audit is done. Steiner, Hazel and Watt are all very capable of figuring that out. Auditing comes at a cost but if it improves confidence, efficiency and transparency at the end it will be worth it.

I checked out the home page: CLICK here

Under downloads (CENTER OF THE PAGE) is the FULL report submitted to the HBOE -- not read it yet, but if the comments at the HBOE March meeting are any indication, this will be quite INTERESTING!

Many good points have been raised here. I am glad to be back.