DOE, DOR support Assabet Valley Regional
By Angela Greiner Community Reporter

Marlborough - School administrators at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School (AVRTHS) can breathe a sigh of relief after recent statements issued by the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Revenue (DOR). The statements were in response to a report issued in February by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) saying that the school mismanaged district funds.

DOE Chief of Staff Heidi Guarino explained that the DOE has reviewed all of the OIG findings and that her department had been most concerned about the first finding, which said the school had allegedly not accounted for $6 million.

"At this point, we [DOE] do not see any evidence that this [finding] is accurate," Guarino said.

Guarino did say, though, that the OIG would continue researching the matter.

AVRTHS Superintendent Eugene Carlo, who has worked at the school for 35 years, said that the allegations did affect him personally, but that his greater concern was for the students, school administrators and taxpayers.

The investigation began in June 2007 after an initial investigation by Kathy Curran from the WBZ I Team. What Curran reported was that the school used taxpayers' money to fund extravagant weekend trips on conferences for staff and spouses. Carlo denied Curran's accusations.

"I take taxpayers' money seriously," he said.

Curran's report prompted an investigation by the OIG.

During the OIG investigation, which lasted for more than eight months, the school opened its financial records to the investigating officers; that resulted in the February report with seven detailed findings against the school.

Both the DOE and the DOR issued recent statements that there is no evidence to support the OIG's first finding.

"I think it is sad that the OIG had access to over 85,000 documents," Carlo said. "They turned us upside down and the report they came out with is completely flawed."

The school is subject to annual audits mandated by the state from both an independent auditor and the DOR; those audits have concluded that the school has always been in compliance. Carlos said he, along with everyone else in the school, works very hard to get things right 99.9 percent of the time.

This year, the school will once again present its seven member towns with an assessment increase of only .58 percent.

"We have not deviated one time from the statemandated financial reporting process," Carlo said. "All of our t's are crossed and our i's are dotted."

The DOR and DOE have hired an outside auditing agency to investigate the other six findings. Carlos said that after recommendations from the DOR, whom he said had found no issues thus far, the school is continuing with its past reporting procedures.

Carlos was frustrated by the fact that Curran would not meet with school authorities to get her questions answered before airing the story.

"Most of the information was … for sensationalism … This was poor journalism," he said. "What I really want to know is: what did Curran and WBZ cost the state and taxpayers?"