River Delta Unified ordered to audit use of school bond

The Solano County district attorney has given the River Delta Unified School District 10 days to begin a performance audit of a $14 million facilities bond.

In an April 21 letter, District Attorney David Paulson said the district has until June 6 to complete the audit or face "judicial intervention." Paulson was not available Tuesday to explain what such intervention might mean.

The letter resulted from numerous resident complaints regarding the district's failure to conduct the annual audit, which is required by state law and designed to ensure that bond money is spent properly.

District parent Bill Mortimore is one such concerned resident. He served on the district's bond oversight committee before resigning in protest in January.

"For the last two to three years the district has given us no information – or incorrect information – on a consistent basis," Mortimore said Tuesday. "It's been a constant struggle. They've not fulfilled the requirements of the bond law."

While the district has conducted periodic financial audits since issuing the bond in 2004, it hasn't run a performance audit.

A financial audit analyzes the expenditures of bond money. A performance audit ensures the money has been used for appropriate projects and that projects are on time and bid properly.

Mortimore blames district administrators, as well as board members, for the legal lapse.

"I don't expect trustees to know every little law – there are thousands of them – but when someone calls attention to (a lapse), they should move posthaste to correct it," he said.

Mortimore said his committee reminded the district about the audit in January. He pointed out that the district's Web site outlines the bond, including the need for the annual audit.

At its April 15 board meeting, officials talked about deferring the audit because of a pending bill that clarifies the bond law.

In his letter, Paulson said compliance could not be deferred, nor was it optional.

"(California's) constitution couldn't be much more clear," Paulson said last week.

District Superintendent Alan Newell said Tuesday that the district will complete the audit by June 6. He attributed the delay, in part, to a "lack of clarity" in the education code "of what in the heck a performance audit is."

In a written response to Paulson, the district noted a "uniform disagreement among (audit) firms" as to what constitutes a performance audit.

Paulson had contacted the district before, when it was slow to respond to two public records requests filed by the bond oversight committee regarding projects it needed to oversee.

By law, public agencies have 10 business days to respond to such requests.

The district took months to comply with the first request and complied with the second only after Paulson's letter.

"We're just asking to be kept informed," said bond oversight committee chair Tim Callahan. "It's a strange dynamic."

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