Burlington Superintendent: No Doubts About Faculty Honesty

BURLINGTON, MA -- School Superintendent Eric Conti said school officials "worked with integrity" when handling money in student accounts and that he has "no doubts about their dedication and honesty." Conti has been writing a series of blog posts outlining a report by an independent accounting firm that raised questions about how student activity and performing arts funds were administered after the funds ran up large deficits.

"I wanted to express my belief in the individuals who have worked with integrity to support the student experience while at Burlington High School," Conti wrote in a post offering more details on ticket sales for music department events. "The findings in the review of the music revolving account are about process. The faculty and staff in Burlington may need to learn new procedures, but I have no doubts about their dedication and honesty."

In a separate post Tuesday, Conti said the community concert series has been canceled. Conti started the concert series, which was sponsored by the school department. That series, Conti said, is responsible for 78% of a $58,322 deficit in the performing arts fund. The school committee will consider using funds from the international student choice account to zero out that fund's deficit when it meets December 19.

Among the findings in the audit of the music program, which is expected to be discussed at the school committee's meeting on December 19:

• Tickets that were sold for cash on the day of the show were listed as "comp," or free tickets. The price those tickets were sold for was not recorded. The audit was unclear on whether or not receipts from those ticket sales were deposited into the account.
• A cash box the department keeps to make change for tickets sold on the night of performances was not recorded on the town's general ledger, meaning "at some point in the past these funds were collected and not turned over to the Town Treasurer."
• The auditors could not ascertain whether some money from fees charged to students was deposited back into the fund.
• The four-show Burlington Community Concert Series lost between $35,000 and $40,000 in fiscal year 2017. On average, the shows generated $6,000 in ticket sales while paying $10,000 in talent fees, on top of hotel, meal and transportation expenses. "These losses are one of the main drivers of the Revolving Fund deficit," the audit concluded.
• The district should not have paid for the deficit incurred for the concert series out of the fund, which is only to be used for extracurricular educational programs.

Conti said the department had accounted for day-of-performance ticket sales as comp tickets based on the recommendation of the software vendor that the school department uses for ticket sales. That created accounting problems; as a result, the music department will use the same accounting method it uses for pre-show ticket sales when it sells tickets on the day of performances. The school department will also no longer ask the music department to make ticket sales projections when budgeting shows, which was one of the problems highlighted in the report.

As for the community concert series Conti started in 2015, he said he ended it because of the negative attention. Conti said he had hoped the series would eventually grow in popularity to a point where it broke even and expressed regret that the school department will no longer be able to bring national acts like the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Beatlemania to Burlington.

"My favorite memory of the community concert series were The Glen Miller Orchestra performances on Mother’s Day. The tribute to veterans in the audience was incredible," Conti wrote. "I also enjoyed seeing members of the high school jazz band practicing and performing with professional musicians on some of our countries culturally significant music. I hope this experience was a lifetime memory for the students. It certainly will be for me."

The posts were the latest in a series Conti has been writing to clarify problems that came up in an audit of the student activities and performing arts funds. In January, town meeting will consider whether or not to spend $70,000 for a complete audit of the school system finances.

More on this story:

• Fresh Produce Fed Deficit In Burlington Schools Cafeteria Account (12/11/2017)
• Town Meeting Members Want Full Audit Of School Finances (12/8/2017)
• Superintendent Responds To Audits Critical Of School Spending (12/6/2017)
• Few Answers From Incomplete Audit Of Burlington Music Program (12/5/2017)
• Audit Of Burlington Schools Student Funds Uncovers Lax Oversight(12/4/2017)

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).