The DMN published a story the other day suggesting that two DISD board members were withholding their endorsements of the possible $1.3 billion bond issue to repair existing schools/build new ones. I got in touch with one of the supposedly dissenting board members, Leigh Ann Ellis, to ask about the story, which seemed a little odd to me considering Leigh Ann’s longtime support of public schools, going back years prior to her election to the board.
Leigh Ann says the Morning News doesn’t "tell the whole story on my quote" and says categorically that she doesn’t oppose the bond package at all. Instead, she believes it’s important to make sure voters and district residents know that DISD is being a good steward of the public’s money prior to asking for more, and she’s waiting for results of an audit of DISD’s finances/procedures to answer that precise question.
"I am not comfortable asking the voters ‘to just trust us’ at this point without a clear understanding of the facts the audit might present to us, such as internal controls, staffing, checks and balances," Ellis says. "I’ll support the bond after reviewing results of the audit. But the board has to understand what the audit is looking at. We do have a fiscal responsibility to the public to understand some of the concerns being addressed by the audit."
Her comments seem both appropriate and well-thought-out. The real issue here is that the board has been told the audit won’t be available for review until late March/early April, but the bond has to be approved by the board on or before March 10 to get the issue on the ballot in May (currently, the board is scheduled to vote on the bond Feb. 28). Therein lies the problem: If the board approves a bond vote on $1.3 billion in expenditures, and then the audit comes back and says (as it likely will) that DISD is sloppy in how it handles our money, how’s that going to look to voters, and how are board members going to explain their supposed rush to get the bond issue in front of voters prior to completely addressing fiscal responsibility issues?
After talking with someone familiar with DISD’s audit process, what sounds plausible is that the audit isn’t going to show fraud, criminal activity and the like; instead, it’s going to uncover a series of things DISD could — and should — have been doing better going back to prior administrations, and it’s going to suggest specific fixes for each problem — and these are fixes DISD is prepared to implement immediately. But when the audit results are announced, what do you think the headline will be in the DMN? "DISD audit uncovers serious shortcomings" or "Audit details enormous DISD waste" or "Audit shows DISD mismanages finances" or even the always-popular "Racial tensions high after DISD audit blasts district finances." I’m betting the headline isn’t going to be the more even-handed: "DISD, auditor working together to improve district finances."
So you can see the problem faced by Leigh Ann, along with that of the rest of the DISD board: Commit to the bond package too early, and you’ll look like a stooge when the media gets ahold of the audit. Or say upfront that you’re concerned about what the audit will say, and get labeled as an obstructionist for wondering out loud about the bond package’s timing.
I wouldn’t want to be in Leigh Ann’s shoes in either case (guess it’s a good thing I’m not on the DISD board), but it seems like she’s taking a prudent stance; I mean, it’s not as if DISD and bad news don’t find themselves in the same room from time to time…
