According to State Auditor Stacey Pickering, the State Board of Education has some real issues they’ve got to address.
“IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT WE FIND.”
Recently, the Mississippi Department of Education has come under fire for a series of small contracts relating to an overhaul of the agency’s IT department. Looking more closely, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) found evidence of potential contract splitting: the act of submitting smaller contracts to avoid oversight from governing bodies. The State Auditor’s office has been investigating these claims for some time.
“COVER-UP, SUBTERFUGE AND A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY”
The Department of Education has contracting regulations that are set apart from the way other state agencies operate. According to Pickering, the home-brew regs also allow for some things to fly under the radar:
Thee PEER report shows some questionable contract awards, including several to companies owned by two men who formerly worked with Dr. Carey Wright before she was state education superintendent for Mississippi.
News Mississippi is following this story and will have more information as it becomes available.
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