OPA wants MHS principal probed

Public Auditor Leo L. LaMotte is asking the Public School System to immediately look into the possible involvement of Marianas High School Principal James Denight in the alleged irregularities on the purchase of supplies and services using a special trust fund.

Mr. LaMotte also urged the PSS to seriously consider the enforcement of employment sanctions against the custodian of the MHS Food Court, a locally-established food service program, for violating the ethics provision of the System’s procurement rules.

In a report released yesterday, the Office of the Public Auditor said monies collected from the operation of the MHS Food Court in School Year 1998-1999 were used exclusively to benefit the public high school.

Primarily because this is in violation of the Planning and Budgeting Act and the policies adopted by the Board of Education, OPA recommended that the PSS Legal Counsel determine whether Mr. Denight and the MHS Food Court custodian could be held liable.

OPA said some $207,677 worth of goods and services were purchased by the MHS using the Food Court Trust Fund without going through the competitive bidding process.

Of this amount, $8,000 were made in violation of a provision in the PSS Procurement Regulation relating to conflicts of interest, according to the OPA report. The report added $1,172 worth of fees collected from the Food Court operations were missing based on available records.

Also, the public auditor stressed that proceeds from the sale of reduced-price meals were not fully accounted for which makes it difficult to establish the completeness of reported cash collections.

Mr. LaMotte said Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos should issue a memorandum instructing the MHS principal to stop using the proceeds from the sale of reduced-price meals to pay for non-Food Court expenses.

The public auditor emphasized the need for Mr. Denight to be required to refer all Food Court procurement to the PSS Procurement Office, and that he stops purchasing goods and services for the locally-established food service program.

In order to resolve these concerns and prevent a repetition, OPA recommended that Ms. Inos require Mr. Denight and the PSS Fiscal and Budget Officer to establish internal controls and written policies and procedures for the accounting of cash receipts at the Food Court.

Since the MHS Food Court was established using funds from the School Lunch Program Trust Fund amounting $369,866, the public auditor wants the Department of Finance to work at the recovery of the entire amount from the PSS.

“Repayment can be made by offsetting this unlawful payment against future fund allocations for PSS. Any repayment from PSS should be restored to the Trust Fund for possible future re-appropriation,” said Mr. LaMotte.

Finance Secretary Lucy Nielsen, in a letter Nov. 20, 2000 to the OPA, indicated that the DOF will withhold $369,866 from the System’s first quarter allotment in Fiscal Year 2001.

The education commissioner, however, pointed out that the MHS Food Court was established to increase the students’ participation in nutritional activities through the use of cafeteria services for breakfast and lunch.

Ms. Inos said student participation increased from about 150 to 900 students at lunch time since the program was created. “It is an innovative idea sought to be introduced in a Commonwealth with many variety ethnic groups being represented each with their own culinary and cultural diets, dishes, delicacies, stapes and religious preferences in food.”