Look closer at bills to the state
The Henry Viscardi School in Albertson Credit: Howard Schnapp
A recent state comptroller's audit of the company that runs the Henry Viscardi School, an academy in Albertson for disabled students, found $835,000 in inappropriate expenses reimbursed by the state from 2007 to 2009. The disallowed spending by the parent company, Abilities!, included executive bonuses, a leased Lexus, $3,582 to rent a catering hall for a retirement party and $420 for flowers on Administrative Professionals Day.
But most of the taxpayer money, $560,000, went to "leadership expenses" for Abilities! personnel who didn't qualify for state funds. The school has its own four-person management staff that does qualify.
The state will recoup the $835,000 from the school and, the audit said, should review another $488,000 in Abilities! salaries wrongly assigned to Henry Viscardi.
Every cycle comptroller audits finds problems, some larger than others. These are on the egregious end of the scale.
By all accounts, the Henry Viscardi School does outstanding work helping disabled young people. Only the billing is in question.
It's good this audit found the problems, but it also raises questions: Shouldn't the state Education Department, whose payouts are supposed to conform to the state's Reimbursable Cost Manual, have caught these problems originally? Don't we need a system to stop such checks before they're cut?
We can't audit everything yearly. Skepticism, prior to issuing payment, would be wise.
