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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Whitman's Student Paper Calls for More Transparency in MCPS

Good article in the online edition of Whitman HS's student newspaper.

The students get it - we're in tight budget, with a rough economy - its time to get tougher with the county credit cards, stop spending where its not needed. Start with more open disclosures of how we spend our money. And of course, check the credit card logs.

Can the kids get the adults in MCPS to shape up?

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Opinion
MCPS officials should more closely regulate purchases with county credit cards
Members of the Montgomery County Parents Coalition recently raised concerns over credit card regulation within the school district. A local legislative audit released in late January supported the claim that MCPS doesn't do enough to regulate credit card usage. While independent organizations have recognized the problem, Superintendent Jerry Weast asserts in his memo that every system can improve, and that he is pleased with the results of the credit card audit.

Yet it seems surprising that Weast was satisfied when auditors found that there were 512 credit card purchases totaling $39,400 in fiscal year 2007 that didn't have an obvious connection to education or the MCPS mission. Officials need to better regulate the questionable purchases that they don't approve before or after employees spend the money.

Members of the County Legislature are taking ineffective steps to rectify the situation through a proposed bill to mandate recording all purchases over $10,000 in a searchable database.
While measures like the proposed database are well-intended, the county still needs broader reform for credit card policy. Most of the illegitimate credit card purchases are less than $10,000, making the database irrelevant to the problem. Officials should just follow the regulations and check the logs.

The school system also needs to ensure that different people order, receive and allocate the credit cards, leaving less room for questionable purchases. Officials need to be diligent about checking and approving credit card logs. Standards should be stringent for what constitutes justifiable spending.

MCPS officials are slashing funding in an attempt to close the deficit gap in the operating budget during these tough economic times. To maximize the efficiency of every dollar, the county should implement a more transparent and efficient system, with strict adherence to regulations, thus monitoring credit card spending and decreasing unnecessary expenditures.

1 comment:

  1. Great opinion piece. If the kids at Whitman get it, how come the Montgomery County Board of Education doesn't "get it?"

    We demand no more unnecessary credit card charges by MCPS employees at Addies, Cheesecake Factory, Il Pizzico, and Amici Miei for lunches and dinners!

    A thousand dollars worth of Honey Baked Ham on MCPS credit cards? What's the educational purpose of so much ham?

    Once again, the taxpayers get the shaft. When is this excessive self-indulgent spending by MCPS administrators going to stop?

    ReplyDelete

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