BOSTON — An investigation found that Boston Public Schools spent more than $867,000 of public funds in ways that violate Massachusetts law, according to the Office of the Inspector General.
Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro called on school officials Wednesday to pause payments on vendor contracts for non-essential goods and services for 10 business days.
Shapiro also asked for an internal review to be performed after separate investigations found that the BPS Division of Operations wasted “significant public funds” by failing to follow procurement law and BPS procedures.
The Office of the Inspector General said it investigated some contracting and procurement practices of the BPS Division of Operations after receiving multiple complaints.
According to the OIG, initial complaints concerned the use of invoice payments through existing but unrelated contracts to compensate unpaid vendors.
A separate complaint involved excessive shipping charges on a single contract for books.
The OIG said it also found evidence that Boston Public Schools employees were not following the Boston residency requirement for a former engineer through false subcontracting relationships.
The office also found that Boston Public Schools did not respond when the Boston Finance Committee informed them of some of these issues.
“Every school district in this Commonwealth must abide by the same rules when purchasing goods and services. Those rules help ensure fairness and transparency in the expenditure of the public’s money. The fact that a district with the staffing and budget of Boston could not perform basic procurement functions is astonishing,” said Shapiro.
The OIG stated that the approval process for vendor invoices created extended delays in payments. Other times, it would result in failure to pay vendors, causing staff to cut corners.
Boston Public Schools incurred nearly $78,000 in extra costs due to the markups, according to the report.
The OIG found that Boston Public Schools violated the Uniform Procurement Act, Chapter 30B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
- Failure to solicit price quotes or issue invitations for bids for supplies or services valued at $10,000 or more;
- failure to enter into written contracts for certain supplies or services as required;
- violation of the sole source procurement exemption by purchasing books from a vendor through a no-bid contract when those books were widely available elsewhere;
- Subversion of the competitive procurement process by steering a spurious water-quality testing procurement to a vendor in order to pay that vendor’s outstanding invoices.
Boston Public Schools sent Boston 25 the following statement:
“We thank the Inspector General’s Office for its review of BPS procurement practices. The report reviews activity from 2019 through 2024 and, in the two years since the IG’s Office first shared its concerns, Superintendent Skipper and the new operations leadership have implemented a number of business reforms to streamline payment and contracting systems, removed individuals and hired new leaders into key procurement roles, and significantly reduced the use of sole-source contracts, all to ensure that our students and schools are getting what they need at the best value for families and taxpayers. The City and the District will carefully review the report’s findings and develop a plan to fully implement the recommendations. Our goal is continuous operational improvements, and we are fully committed to strengthen our ability to deliver a high-quality education for every student across Boston.”
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW