Fallout at School Board Meeting as Budget Shortfall Dominates Discussion

Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2012 12:00 am

Jackson Falconer

BRADENTON – In the aftermath of the announcement of Superintendent Tim McGonegal's immediate resignation, as well as last week's acknowledgment of a $3.4 million budget deficit, much of Monday's board meeting and public budget hearing was spent discussing the shortfall, and how to proceed in the wake of a superintendent vacancy.

Inevitably, blame for the financial debacle was pointed at board members as well as to the board's finance committee. A proposal to conduct an audit into the 2012-2013 budget was brought up, and the board will hold an executive meeting on Thursday with audit committee members to discuss appointing an outside firm to perform the investigation.

After Board Chair Harry Kinnan's reading of a resignation note from McGonegal at the outset of the meeting, and following unanimously passed motions to both accept the resignation and promote Assistant Superintendent Bob Gagnon to interim superintendent for at least two weeks, much time was allotted to board members, teachers, citizens and others; many of whom vented, blamed, and generally expressed outrage over the budget deficit, which was only announced to the public and other board members on Saturday, though Dr. McGonegal has since admitted he had knowledge of in early August.

Gagnon said during Tuesday's meeting that he supported the board's recommendation of an independent audit, and that he would require such an audit of the 2012-2013 budget in order for him to consider being interim superintendent. Board member Robert Gause recommended bringing in the board's current audit committee in helping to pick an outside audit firm. Board member Julie Aranibar expressed her disagreement with Gause's proposal, saying the appointed audit firm should not be recommended by anyone currently working for the school district. Gause then said the reason why he recommended the committee is because they have qualified accountants. Board Chair Harry Kinnan announced that the board would reach out to the audit committee members the same evening for the purpose of scheduling an emergency meeting during the same week.

The district's finance department was called out by board member Karen Carpenter, who said she had no confidence in the numbers or the reports coming from the district's finance department. "We should not allow them to be here. How much more damage can they do?" she said.

During public comments, Dave Miner and others also expressed opposition to the current audit committee being involved in appointing an auditor. Both Miner and Linda Schaich, Gause's opponent in the 2012 primary, raised questions about the timing of McGonegal's budget shortfall confession in light of the recent re-election of Gause.

Several others criticized the board for presiding over the debacle. A suggestion for an "efficiency audit" was made, as concerns were raised about the current potential vulnerability of electronic records that may otherwise turn up in the proposed audit. Gagnon advised that he would look into locking down all of the school district's electronic records with board attorney John Bowen.

Platitudes about moving forward were offered throughout the six-hour meeting. Board members agreed on the urgency of conducting a thorough audit as well as discussing how to better safeguard the district's financial assets in the future. Kinnan announced that an executive session would be held on Thursday, September 13 at 5:00 p.m., "to talk about the implications of the budget shortfall on both collective bargaining and other facets of our budget."