Commission blasts Niles district’s unauthorized spending

May 22, 2019 at 6:10p.m.

NILES

In a lengthy and at times heated meeting, members of the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission strongly criticized the administration of the Niles City School District for going forward with purchase orders and personnel changes without commission authority.

The district has been in fiscal emergency since February and its recovery plan, budgeting and expenditures are subject to commission review and approval. No purchase orders above $5,000 are permitted unless the commission approves them first.

Yet, Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen said the district had to act on two of them and the commission was anything but sympathetic.

One of the two drawing particularly strong criticism was payment of nearly $15,000 to repair the schools’ public address system. The commission had tabled approval in an earlier meeting.

“That is not how this is supposed to work,” said the commission’s Robert Swauger, a former Niles city treasurer. “Nothing is to be paid until it’s approved.”

Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen said the system had failed to function for tornado drills. “It was a safety issue,” she said.

Thigpen and district Treasurer Lori Hudzik attributed the issue to “bad accounting practices,” prompting a warning of potential findings for recovery against the district should the commission decide against approval.