Raises Rejected: Could Education Audit be at Risk?

It was former Superintendent Dr. Robert Gerardi's final act for Woonsocket education, and now it is one of Dr. Giovanna Donoyon's first. 

In effort to retain the best and brightest administrative personnel, both education leaders proposed raises for their top staff. Woonsocket, they said, is no longer competitive in the job market, and employees can get more for doing less work elsewhere. Earlier this year Gerardi said he was prompted to action by the of two top administrators.

But in a city where bankruptcy has been avoided by narrowest of margins through and cuts to jobs, services, and , any additional spending is a hard sell, and attempts to direct the funds to the district's top earners could, understandably, incite public outrage.

"I understand that you might be approving raises for some administrators," said Jessica Desrosier at Wednesday night's School Committee meeting. "I was wondering where that money is coming from with the city on the verge of bankruptcy."

"I just don't think it's the right time for us to be handing out raises," said Committee Chair Marc Dubois. "I will be voting no on that."

Donoyon recommended the raises, which she said would cost the district $56,000, as part of a re-organization of department staff. Though the superintendent, who is still in her first months of work in the city, was slower to identify the specific battle she faces in retaining her top personnel then her predecessor Gerardi, Director of Instruction and Administration Marc Garceau the district in early November and Business Manager Stacey Busby in Somerset, MA.

Though that position was ultimately awarded to Attleboro School Business Manager Marc Furtado, the indication that Busby could leave Woonsocket is a serious concern for Finance Director Thomas Bruce, who is tasked with keeping a close eye on the city's finances.

Bruce must provide an updated report on Woonsocket's financial status to in January, and Busby is directly responsible for providing WED's hard numbers to the auditors. The finance director to the School Committee in August, but the auditors are still waiting for her finalized reconciliation.

The only other accountant-level employee on WED's staff, Kristen Howe, was let go in September and the re-organizational chart provided by Donoyon and approved by the School Committee Wednesday night did not include a position for Howe's replacement.

"A business manager for a district of this size needs to be making management decisions, not bookkeeping," said Bruce. With no substantive staff to crunch the numbers, Busby has worked tirelessly to provide the needed data.   

In October, the audit team halted their fieldwork to give Bubsy more time. In an email to Busby dated Oct. 18, 2011, Robert Civetti, principal for Braver Accountants and Advisors, explained "we are planning to resume the audit fieldwork on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 8:30 a.m.  It is imperative that all trial balances and support reconciliations be completed and provided at that time so that we can effectively and efficiently move forward with the 2011 audit."

In an separate email providing a status update on the education audit to Bruce dated almost a month later, Civetti states, "As for the School Department audit we spent the entire week last week at the School Dept working on the audit. Unfortunately, Stacey still has some things to work on and finalize."

Bruce can only speculate on just how detrimental Busby's departure could be to the city's hope to gain an improved credit rating. 

"If Stacy leaves, it leaves the city with the sort of problem that I'm not comfortable with," he said. "With Kristan gone, and Stacy possibly gone, there is no accounting level personnel in the school department."

The School Committee unanimously opposed all departmental raises Monday night, separating the request from Donoyon's re-organization chart.