The long-awaited DISD audit is finally out, and — surprise, surprise — the auditors found out that DISD’s finance/accounting department is a mess, according to the DMN story. It’s too bad it cost a couple of million dollars to find that out, again (same song, second verse, from the 1999 audit), but there you have it: A school district (or any business, for that matter) that changes leaders every couple of years is bound to have problems keeping track of its money, along with just about everything else.
Which is why the audit conclusions are no big surprise. And which is why it’s time for DISD to solve this problem, once and for all (or at least until the next couple of superintendents take over…). Anyway, Supt. Michael Hinojosa looks to be staying around for awhile, and he’s pledging to do what it takes to clean things up. All that needs to happen now is that the board needs to give him the money and rope necessary to hire quality people to run the department, reorganize the ways things operate and get started on the right path — a path the auditors and other finance people seem to think will take 3-5 years. And that’s only going to be possible if Hinojosa stays around even longer than that — long enough to see the job through, minimizing the inevitable turnover that happens when the guy in charge keeps being turned over. Let’s hope the board sees things that way, too.
