Not Good, not good at all, ASD

The school year has not gotten off to a good start for the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD). Just days after the first day of school, Green Dot principal of Fairley High School, Zachary Samson, was arrested at his school on two charges of tampering with and fabricating evidence. Based on the arrest affidavit, it would appear the principal advised two students to delete pictures from their phone after another student reported nude pictures of her were posted on social media. We would love to show you a copy of the arrest record but like the student's pictures, it has been deleted and no longer appears on the court's website. Apparently, the case has been expunged in a rather expeditious manner ie. removed lickety split. 

Then, things went from bad to worse for the ASD. Several days after the ASD principal's arrest, the Tennessee Comptroller's office released an audit noting some financial peculiarities:

• The ASD did not establish adequate controls over several key human resources and payroll processes
• The ASD failed to implement adequate internal controls over its expenditures, travel claims, and purchasing card purchases
• The ASD did not perform sufficient fiscal monitoring of its direct-run schools and charter management organizations

That's boring accounting talk for the ASD didn't "TCB." But we already knew that. Remember when we told you about how the Barbic's loved mixing education reform with cocktails? Might want to read our Rat blog as a refresher. 

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PARTAY with the ASD

Momma Bears has been telling you for quite a while about the ASD's Happy Hours. It is common knowledge in Memphis that the ASD recruits its new teachers by getting them liquored up at local bars with free drinks. We have even heard parents confront ASD officials about sponsoring Happy Hours for teachers. After shrugging their shoulders,
the ASD's response was that they also recruited at daytime events where they offered spa treatments like free mini massages. A veteran teacher was heard to grumble under her breath that she didn't become a teacher for free liquor and back rubs.

The ASD has been offering free appetizers and two free drink coupons at area bars since 2013. One of the ASD's favorite watering holes is the Bar Dog Tavern. It's a gathering place for hipsters but there was some trouble there last week when one of Bar Dog Tavern employees was carjacked and shot in the parking lot. ​

It comes as no surprise to us that the state audit revealed dirty details of the money spent on liquor and food at ASD parties. A list of the salacious expenditures appeared in The Memphis Daily News: 

• $2,500 on a holiday event at the Sheraton in Memphis, in part to recognize outgoing superintendent Chris Barbic, including expensive finger food, alcohol and a bartender.​
• $1,630 worth of alcohol for a staff recognition event and charged it to its Charter School Grant Funding, a private grant in which funding was restricted to operating expenses for five schools.
• An employee took himself and a friend out to dinner on ASD’s dime and bought $22 worth of drinks, plus dessert, and failed to exclude them from his reimbursement. He wound up getting $13 too much, though he reported he didn’t consume the beverages or eat the dessert.

​So, the ASD fat cats were partying in hotels and feasting on "expensive finger food [and] alcohol." Meanwhile they served their students moldy food out of a rat infested kitchen. Click the rat below to read that blog again.  

Momma Bears aren't the only ones questioning how the ASD spends its money. Both state and federal auditors have found financial irregularities with the ASD since the get-go. The ASD took over its first school in 2012. By 2013, the auditors were already reporting deficiencies in controls. Take a look below at what was reported in the most recent state audit:

We first identified issues involving ASD’s financial and federal program operations during the 2013 Single Audit, and in each of the Single Audit reports since 2013, we have reported deficiencies in ASD’s internal controls and noncompliance with federal program requirements, resulting in approximately $721,000 of federal questioned costs. ​​

The most recent federal audit from July of this year, noted the following:

We found that Tennessee and the Achievement School District spent $101,903 on unallowable items and activities and did not adequately document another $141,968. ​​

Since its inception, that ASD has racked up— 

• Almost three quarters of a million dollars in questionable costs
• Over a $100,000 in items not allowed 
• Nearly $150,000 in undocumented expenses 

We think the Fairley High School principal isn't the only one who needs to be in handcuffs.