Schools
In Belleville: District's 'Confusing' Flash Drive Purchase Discussed At BOE Meeting
The order was placed after a former board trustee's company was stuck with 2,000 unwanted units, report states.
Why did the Belleville School District order 2,000 flash drives from a former board trustee’s employer?
The issue of a $20,000 purchase order in 2013 once again reared its head during Monday night’s Belleville Board of Education meeting, when Board trustee Ralph Vellon discussed a “confusing” police report shared by former trustee Joe Longo.
“[During the meeting] Vellon elaborated that there were a lot of questions regarding the board’s involvement in the purchase, and that an investigation should take place to clarify what had actually transpired,” NorthJersey.com reported.
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At the time of the purchase, Longo – who was serving as a trustee – was simultaneously employed as a salesman with Belleville-based Marange Printing, the company that sold the flash drives to the district.
Essex Watch posted a copy of the police report online, in which Longo alleges that Marange Printing was the victim of a business-to-business fraud that left the company with a surplus of 2,000 flash drives.
Find out what's happening in Belleville-Nutleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Read Essex Watch’s take on the flash drive purchase here.
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