"This report reads like a novel, and you will be both flabbergasted and disappointed in what's been going on in the Memphis-Shelby County school system,” said state Comptroller Jason Mumpower.

There is no doubt that the findings of the audit are systemic and troubling, but if the verbiage, charts, redactions, and footnotes of the $7.7 million forensic audit are Mumpower’s idea of a “novel,” someone needs to recommend a “beach read.” The document is a thorough and tedious read with at least a partial purpose of supporting the narrative that the state takeover is justified because of the condition of the Memphis Shelby County School system (MSCS).

That in no way says that the auditors did not do their jobs or that the findings are not serious. However, the conditions described in the document did not emerge in the year and a half since Roderick Richmond became the superintendent, nor during the two years that the current school board has been in office. “Systemic” issues become that way over a significant period of time.

In a post on X, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton said, “The full findings of the MSCS audit confirms (sic) the board has allowed a culture of corruption, mismanagement, and deception to take root for decades. It’s time for the MSCS board to stop fighting accountability, drop their lawsuit, and start being part of the solution. In order for a stronger Memphis, we need stronger schools with better results.”

But which school board is Sexton referring to?

Of course, he is referring to the present school board that fired Dr. Marie Feagins, the former superintendent, whom the Republicans in the legislature have been trying to vindicate for the last two years. The reality is that some of the worst findings in the audit happened prior to Feagins or Richmond and before the present school board took their seats.

Auditors found that a $48 million contract for custodial services was awarded to a single vendor against the recommendation of the evaluation committee to spread the contract over multiple vendors. Emails show that the Chief Business Officer (CBO) at the time unilaterally made the decision and directed his subordinate to prepare the documents for board approval. In an interview by the auditors with an anonymous former employee, it was alleged that there was a kickback arrangement between the CBO, the vendor, and possibly others. The auditors also revealed that Internal Auditing at MSCS flagged the situation and investigated. Their efforts led to the CBO resigning for “family reasons” after his refusal to say who else might be involved. Internal Auditing, having investigated the issue as far as their authority allowed, turned the information over to the FBI. In other words, MSCS Internal Auditing did its job in this instance. Whether the FBI investigated or what, if anything, they found is unknown.

This entire incident occurred in 2021 and 2022 when Dr. Joris Ray was the superintendent and two years before the current school board was seated. However, one of the members of the school board at the time who approved the single-vendor contract was recently appointed to the new Oversight Board by Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally; yet another proof point that the primary goal of the legislative leadership is to punish the current board.

Ninety-eight auditor recommendations and $65 million of flagged transactions are related to the district failing to follow its OWN internal policies. Anyone who has worked in the administration of a business or nonprofit understands that internal controls prevent fraud, waste, and abuse and assist executive leadership in avoiding legal issues. Following these policies within MSCS is essential, but the fact that they were not followed is not necessarily criminal, nor does it prove that the $65 million did not provide the products or services for which it was spent.

Fifty-one recommendations were related to Information Technology. Those recommendations and any information about these findings were redacted to prevent hackers from exploiting these weaknesses. One can assume that these issues deal in part with cybersecurity and possibly software and hardware issues.

One finding that surfaced in the preliminary report released in April during the legislative session was that the firing of 1000 employees under the short tenure of Dr. Feagins resulted in a serious erosion of institutional knowledge. Auditors often had difficulty gathering information because of a “lack of consistent knowledge around processes, procedures, and applications…” This fact was left out of the Comptroller’s press release and the public scoldings by Republicans.

To state it emphatically, the financial management processes within MSCS are a mess and must be addressed. Whether a federal judge allows the Oversight Board to continue its work or the job falls to the elected school board, fixing the problems is going to cost millions of dollars. Lawyers and/or accountants will be hired to write policies. Employees will be hired to fill the gaps created by the mass termination. Trainers will be needed to equip the existing staff. Computer hardware, software licenses, and complex cybersecurity solutions must be purchased. The only question is, will the legislature that was so eager to take over and audit the system be as enthusiastic about paying for the fix?