Schools

City Auditor Concerned About Schools

A number of financial issues leaves the city official worried about the fiscal operations of the Attleboro school district.

City Auditor Deborah Gould fired off a letter Friday to council members and other local leaders about her "growing concern" regarding the fiscal health of the school district.

Among the concerns mentioned in the letter (which is attached to this article) are that she could not approve recent purchase requests by the district totaling $140,000 due to insufficient available funding and a report in The Sun Chronicle this week that the state Attorney General's office tossed a field maintenance contract because of improper bidding.

"I would be remiss in my duties as city auditor if I did not formally alert you to my growing concern regarding the fiscal operations within the school department," Gould wrote. "Please note these concerns are compounded when I consider that a number of additional key personnel within the department are retiring or exiting the system at the end of June."

Find out what's happening in Attleborowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In a second letter, Gould recommended that all payments stop to E.D. Liston Landscaping Inc., the company contracted for the maintenance work. 

"Please note that at the present, I only know what I have read in the newspaper as my request for additional information from the school department is outstanding," Gould wrote. 

Find out what's happening in Attleborowith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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