Evergreen Solutions likely to conduct audit of TPS
12/17/2012The Toledo Board of Education is expected Tuesday to approve the hiring of Evergreen Solutions to conduct a performance audit of the school system. The district would pay the company up to $150,000 to conduct the audit, according to the proposed agreement.
The district’s finance committee, which met on Monday, is making the recommendation to hire Evergreen, which is based in Macomb, Mich. The school board meets at 5:30 p.m., today in the board room of the Thurgood Marshall Building, 420 E. Manhattan Blvd. The meeting is open to the public.
“I’m really comfortable with recommending this firm,” said board member Cecilia Adams. Ms. Adams also serves as the chairwoman of the board’s finance and business operations committee. “I think they will be a good fit.”
If hired, Evergreen would be charged with conducting a comprehensive audit, which could reveal cost savings and efficiencies for the financially-strapped district.
The audit comes in the aftermath of a voter-defeated request for a new 4.9-mill, 10-year levy that would have generated $13.3 million annually. There are no plans for immediate cuts because of the levy failure, but future deficits could force significant budget cuts, school officials have said.
The district has not had a performance audit since 1998. Critics and community group representatives have said they wanted to see the results of such an audit before they would support new funding.
If the board agrees to hire Evergreen, the audit would begin immediately and conclude by the end of March, said board member Bob Vasquez. Mr. Vasquez also serves as vice-chairman of the finance committee.
- Federico Martinez