Despite raising $37 million more than the $240 million authorized (by paying more interest on the bonds), FHSD has blown through nearly all its Prop S funds. As highlighted last fall, there was a nearly 100% overrun on the new FHN building when compared to the original estimate that was given to the public during the bond campaign. So far, the district has accomplished relatively few of the planned Prop S projects.
A complete external audit of Prop S projects is desperately needed in order to provide transparent fiscal accountability to district stakeholders. The new superintendent and CFO deserve a clean slate upon which to be judged, and such an audit will give them the tools they need to prevent a repeat of the previous mistakes. Taxpayers will not support additional bond or property tax requests until they can trust that their money is being spent wisely. The district cannot continue to blame everything on the pandemic and inflation without an independent audit to reveal if (and where) mistakes were made. While the Citizens Roundtable last week was a good start, such an event cannot replace a thorough and independent analysis of last year’s fiasco.
Until such an audit is complete, we believe that only the most urgent Prop S capital projects should be continued. Any costs to perform this audit are trivial when compared with the overruns that we have seen and could be paid for by cuts in the central office budget.
What else you can do:
- Attend a FHSD School board meeting and voice your concerns –
See here for schedule and more information. - Please contact us to find out more, help us to find and elect a better school board, or to share your concerns and experiences
- Consider making a donation to help us elect better school board members.