Alexandria superintendent pays thousands to long-time friend

Alexandria superintendent pays thousands to long-time friend

This is the second in a three-part series about decisions made by Alexandria Public Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman during his first two years as superintendent. Two months, dozens of interviews and 774 pages of documents acquired via Freedom of Information requests revealed details about upheaval in the central office and Sherman’s long-time use of outside consultants. This series is also being published by the Alexandria Gazette.

By Paige Winfield Cunningham

A long-time friend of Alexandria school Superintendent Morton Sherman has been paid thousands of dollars and shared meals with the Alexandria superintendent on the district’s dime before ever signing a formal contract.

One in a wave of new consultants hired since Sherman came to Alexandria, Bena Kallick was the second highest-paid individual contractors paid during last two years and has recently signed more contracts to hold teacher training this year...

...That personal friendship seems to be reflected in how Sherman has used his district- issued credit card. He’s used the card to pay for more meals with Kallick than with anyone else. Of the 40 meals he’s charged to the card, nearly half have been spent with Kallick and total $895.

Their most frequented restaurant is Alexandria’s historic Morrison House on Alfred Street, where they’ve breakfasted eight times on the district’s dollar. During one of Kallick’s visits last year, they began the day with a $44.06 breakfast at Morrison and ended it with a $103.16 dinner at the Chart House...

 ...It’s not the first time Sherman hired consultants without signing a contract.

While Sherman was superintendent of the South Orangetown Central School District in New York in the 1990s, he signed a $565,000 contract with Cimple Systems, Inc. to design a district-wide technology plan. The district terminated the contract six months later when Cimple failed to uphold its end of the deal.

The contract had never been reviewed by the district’s attorney and apparently received no formal authorization by the school board....

 ...Neither Prolman nor Kallick have had to bid for any of their contracts. That’s because while state law mandates competitive bidding on contracts more than $50,000, ACPS either approved their contracts in smaller increments, tacked on additional compensation after contracts were signed or didn’t list a total payment on the contract at all...

How many Consultants are on the books in MCPS? 22 hours to count them all! You'll have to pay to find out how many and what they are paid.