No Contract - $23 Million - IQinVision

On January 30, 2009, I testified in Annapolis about the urgent need for transparency in MCPS procurements via an online searchable website. I gave 4 examples of major procurements that did not appear in MCPS Board of Education minutes. One of the examples I gave was the IQinVision procurement that has received much publicity from the company, but a vote on this procurement is not shown in Board of Education minutes.

Now we know why the IQinVision procurement does not appear in MCPS Board of Education minutes. Once again, there was no contract. Once again, there was no Board of Education approval of this procurement, even though it was clearly over the $25,000 threshold requiring Board action.

According to the limited information that is available on this procurement, the "installation" of 5 IQinVision cameras for Walter Johnson High School cost $9,225.00.

The Press Release from IQinVision announces that 3,000 cameras will be installed in MCPS this year and a total of 12,000 to 13,000 by the end of the initiative. It would appear that 3,000 cameras would equate to a procurement of around $5.5 million for one year. The total "initiative" for 13,000 cameras would appear to be a procurement of around $23,985,000. As stated, the public information on this procurement is very limited.

If Board of Education President Brandman, former Board President Navarro (President when these orders were placed) or Superintendent Weast would like to provide documentation to make this procurement transparent to the public we will post those documents here on the Parents' Coalition blog. At present the only documents available are 3 Purchase Orders and a reference to a GSA Contract with a company that deals in Information Technology Equipment, Software and Services. See those documents below:
IQNC

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"There is no contract" for $74,300 purchase.

On January 30, 2009, I testified in Annapolis about the urgent need for transparency in MCPS procurements via an online searchable website. I gave 4 examples of major procurements that did not appear in MCPS Board of Education minutes. One of the examples I gave was the purchase of the EasyLobby visitor management system.

Now we know why the EasyLobby procurement does not appear in MCPS Board of Education minutes. MCPS: "There is no contract".

Montgomery County Public Schools has a Procurement Manual which is based on Policy DJA, Procurement Practices and Regulation DJA-RA Procurement of Equipment, Supplies, and Contractual Services. The Procurement Manual details the procedure to be used in procuring items over $25,000 and details how those purchases require Board of Education approval. In short, the process has an RFP or IFB, followed by competitive bids, and then the selection of a bidder. The contract is then awarded by the Board of Education.

[UPDATE JULY 15, 2009: MCPS HAS REMOVED THE PROCUREMENT MANUAL FROM THEIR WEBSITE SO THAT IT IS NO LONGER ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC. THE LINK TO THE "PROCUREMENT MANUAL" ABOVE NO LONGER TAKES YOU TO THE MCPS PROCUREMENT MANUAL. HERE IS A NEW LINK PROVIDED BY THE PARENTS' COALITION.]

According to MCPS, there is no EasyLobby contract, and so apparently, there was no Board of Education approval of this August 18, 2008, $74,300 purchase. So who exactly authorized the spending of this money?

Please note that the letter from EasyLobby is dated August 12, 2008 and the Purchase Order is dated August 18, 2008. There was no Board of Education meeting between August 12th and August 18th of 2008, and so Board approval of this Purchase Order was impossible.

How often are purchases over $25,000 made without Board of Education approval? Annapolis, we can't wait for a searchable MCPS procurement database, we need it today!

UPDATE 3/10/09: MCPS COO Larry Bowers tells Board that MCPS will be putting out a RFP for a visitor management system soon due to questions from elementary principals.
Easy 1

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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

By Megan Dwyer - News Writer
Published February 24, 2009 05:17:49 pm

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.