There’s good news and bad news at Española School District. The good news is really good news. The District had only two audit findings, neither very serious. It received the first unmodified opinion since 2002 or 2003.
Board members spent 30 minutes discussing the gymnasium repairs and what kind of scoreboard should be installed, its size, where it should be hung and who could pay for it. They had no questions or comments regarding the audit. You’ve got to question those priorities.
The first finding was in regard to procurement and purchase issues.
Former superintendent Fred Trujillo and three key employees, Aaron Aragon, Marcel Povijua and Esther Romero are responsible for the two audit findings. Finance department folks believe Trujillo stepped out of bounds and ordered work done on Española Valley High School’s and an unnamed elementary school’s doors.
Aragon heads the maintenance department. His application, resume and work history show he has questionable skills, and no education or training to do so. Povjiua heads procurement and works with Aragon on bids and quotes. The two control most purchases related to building maintenance.
Auditor Dominic Fierro, of Fierro and Fierro, said there needs to be another person involved in the facilities procurement process. We agree.
Fierro said one contractor had certain information to produce a quote, the second had different information and the third had a yet a third set of requirements. As he said, you can’t get a proper quote or bid when contractors are given different information.
The two discrepancies Fierro found regarding the door purchases sounds very much like the recent “bid process” to address the erosion and flooding problem at the High School. In the case of our continuing erosion issue, one bidder came up with removing a building while the other two didn’t address it. Another bidder wanted to remove or modify the student parking lot. None of them addressed the holding ponds along El Llano Road.
During an October Board meeting, former Board member Matthew Casados asked Aragon point blank, were they (the contractors) all given the “same parameters, the same scope of work?” Aragon dodged the question and said he took all three bidders on a tour showing them the issues.
Former Board president Gilbert Serrano made an astonishing statement after the discussion. He instructed Aragon to give the same information to all the contractors/bidders. We hope the facilities maintenance manager didn’t need that advice but Serrano felt it necessary to tell Aragon how to handle a very basic part of the procurement process and his job.
The other finding was in the Human Resources Department. Most of the findings were minor. Some forms weren’t signed. Other forms lacked a check on a certain box. Other issues were forms missing from personnel files, which is troubling.
But two issues rang true Española: nepotism.
There were two instances, out of 16 files reviewed, where an employee failed to indicate on his or her application their related party relationship with a Board member, or District employee.
The District subsequently hired these two employees.
In two instances employees failed to indicate a related party relationship when completing the School District’s conflict of interest form, thus violating the School District’s nepotism policy.
It’s not clear if these are two employees who failed to declare a relationship on their application and then on their conflict of interest form, or if it was four employees, violating school policy once each.
Regardless, it’s clear when you have one person violating the nepotism policy, you’re going to have trouble with that employee’s work, ethics and ability to receive criticism, without calling in a favor.
This great audit also had no repeat findings. That’s fantastic. That means the finance folks addressed all six issues from the 2020 audit to the auditor’s satisfaction. He also said we spend federal money well, correctly and filed myriad federal forms. Not many public entities can make that claim. Federal money is very difficult to spend, track and report to the satisfaction of D.C. bean-counters.
Board President Jeremy Maestas called it right, though. It’s a great audit and we need to do better. He too found the many facilities maintenance issues a serious problem, along with procurement failing in many instances. Training, he said. We’ve got to get more people trained if they are in the request process.
Don’t forget about that third person looking over Aragon’s and Povijua’s shoulder, Mr. President.