Auditor General Says School District Misspent Thousands in Federal Funds

The Pennsylvania auditor general says a school district misspent thousands of dollars in federal grant money.  The special audit was requested by the U. S. Department of Education

Auditor General Jack Wagner says the audit has found that the York City School District misspent over 800 thousand dollars in money from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant program.  He called it a blatant misuse of tax dollars.

Wagner says the district spent taxpayer dollars without a purpose.  He says the money was used to buy equipment that’s sitting in storage rooms.  He says that includes laptop computers, athletic equipment, putting greens, stop watches  and other items that have never been used.

Wagner   pointed blame at both the school district and state education department. He says   the U. S. Department of Education should help determine what to do with the equipment and decide if the money should be paid back.   He adds the case raises concerns about other school districts and how they’re spending grant monies.

Wagner says school district employees interviewed for the audit indicated they felt pressured to spend the entire amount of the grant rather than return some of the money. He says the number of children the district indicated would be part of the program were one-third less of projections.  He says they knew factually they did not need this much equipment to meet the requirements of the grant that serves children in need with special programs before and after school and in the summer months.

Wagner says this mentality of spend it or lose it must change.