Policy Not Practice – Of School Superintendents and Outside Auditors – Part 2

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog reflected on

Anyone who has ever watched CSI on the tube knows forensic auditors would actually look at a suspect’s personnel file for potential evidence. Jefferson Wells’ Mark Warner decided they could do a forensic payroll analysis without bothering to do that.

Maybe they have telepathic powers or Superman’s X ray vision?

Would District 158’s auditor have spilled the beans if school board member Larry Snow hadn’t already asked so many detailed questions?

If you were auditor Paul Thurman of the firm Evans, Marshall & Pease, P.C., and wasn’t planning on saying anything, you might be thinking,

“What if Larry Snow knows and I say everything was okay, this could be really embarrassing if Snow already knows the details?”

Obviously people in the fiscal department already knew because the auditor said so at the meeting.

You can have a policy that requires disclosure of financial irregularities, but if there are no adverse consequences for violating the policy, then the practice continues.

And why does such a “don’t tell unless someone asks” practice continue?

Because the individuals in power, the board majority and superintendent want it this way.

It’s their choice.

Voluntarily revealing such a screw up would hurt the image of Huntley School District 158, even though it would be good for accountability and transparency, not to mention for the soul.

Why put in the effort and work it takes for an actual good performance when you can hide and not disclose any mess ups anytime you want to?

Even to fellow board members…assuming Superintendent John Burkey told someone on the board.

You don’t even have to put in the time to fix a problem if the problem officially never happened?


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