School forced to return $740,000 after audit

Illinois East St. Louis School District 189 will have to return over $740,000 of federal funds. The school district will return $650,000 for failing to file paperwork on time and $81,360 for noncompliance with federal regulations prohibiting large cash surpluses in district bank accounts.

This is not entirely surprising, as the school has not been transparent in its spending efforts and earned a “D-” transparency grade from Sunshine Review. The school board has refused to comment on the situation, and has even hung up on local reporters.

Simply calling the board must have taken some sleuthing, as their contact information is not posted on the website. The same reporters have alleged the school spent $3.1 million on consultants (some who are relatives of politicians), as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel.

These situations make it clear that citizens need timely access to government spending. School districts like 189 should be posting their checkbook registers online to reassure parents that the district is practicing good government.

Audit finds 59 violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law

Sometimes people ask how we came to our transparency checklist items, and we’re always pretty surprised because we think they are self evident (however you can find the full rational here). I find this especially true for are audits.

Recently, Missouri’s auditor found out that there had been 59 Sunshine Law compliance problem between 2008 and 2009. Over 45 governmental bodies were reported having issues with meeting minutes and agendas; 30 reported problems with minutes for closed meetings; and 18 failed to provide justification for a closed meetings.

Have you seen this type of thing in your state? What’s the juiciest scandal your auditor has found?