NEWS

Consultants cost Monroe schools $80K to date

Bonnie Bolden
bbolden@thenewsstar.com

The Educational Planning Group has billed the Monroe City School System more than $80,000 since Dec. 17, including $19,000 for the period from Dec. 17 to Jan. 7, when the EPG was not employed by the district

File photo

EPG was hired by the Monroe City School Board to oversee elements of the consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Robbie James in December. On Dec. 15, the majority of the Monroe City School Board voted to hire EPG for positions required by the consent decree. On Dec. 17, board McFarland said because of contention over the vote, board members would have the opportunity to submit other candidates and revote at the Jan. 7 meeting. On Jan. 7, the majority of the board again voted to hire EPG.

The first bill, submitted March 1, covers Dec. 17 through Feb. 29. Nycole Campbell-Lewis, the independent court monitor, billed 148 hours that cost $18,500 in total. Ritha Bookert, the medical magnet expert, billed 130 hours that cost $16,250, and Hazel Henderson, the curriculum expert, billed 108 hours that cost $13,500. Each subcontractor makes $125 an hour.

The first draft submitted did not itemize what work was done on which day, as required by the consent decree. At a March 8 meeting, the board asked EPG to resubmit an itemized version of the information, which was received March 10. Several days still do not list what work was completed during the hours worked, and there are inconsistencies between the drafts.

The initial draft listed 108 hours worked by Henderson. A review of the second, itemized version shows that Henderson listed 87 hours of work, but the total amount billed was still 108 hours on the second draft.

The first draft listed 14 hours of work, seven each, for Campbell-Lewis and Bookert for "review of resumes and interviews for the selection of the medical expert." The work is not listed on the second draft, but the total hours for the court monitor and medical magnet expert remained the same despite the some different tasks being listed.

Additional costs were $131.56 for postage, $296.94 for printing, $633 in travel expenses and $480 in meal costs.

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The second invoice, submitted April 8, is for March. It includes 88 hours ($11,000) billed by Campbell-Lewis, 75 hours ($9,375) billed by Bookert and 64 hours ($8,000) billed by Henderson.

It also includes $37.71 in postage costs, $431.88 for printing, $1,186.20 for travel expenses and $560 for meals.

In a March 22 email to the board, Superintendent Brent  Vidrine listed concerns about EPG's billing practices after a review of both versions of the December through February invoice.

He said that only board attorney Doug Lawrence and the U.S. Department of Justice had received a budget from EPG as of March 3. At the March 8 school board meeting, all board members present objected to the budget and the first billing statement.

On March 24, board Vice President Brenda Shelling said she had discussed Vidrine's concerns with President Rodney McFarland, and they recommended paying the invoice immediately.

Dec. 17 through Feb. 26

Approximately 150 hours were billed for Dec. 17 through Jan. 7, costing $19,125. That total includes six hours billed by all three workers for presenting their proposal to the school board. The meeting did not last six hours. No other candidates were paid for their presentations. Campbell-Lewis charged six hours for meeting preparation Jan. 8, the day after the board meeting.

In his March 22 email to the board, Vidrine questioned the amount of time listed for certain tasks and that no partial hours are billed.

"The hours included in visits to the district seem to include mileage (275 miles at $1.575 per mile) and meals ($120 per visit — $40 per expert), as well as billing for the ICM, ME and CE during the estimated three hours of travel time to and from Monroe," he wrote.

"Billing for the work time of the experts should begin when they are on site. If the district is billed for the travel time, each on-site visit to the district costs $1,403.25 before the experts begin any tasks."

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Vidrine said the group's first quarterly report submitted indicated that EPG couldn't enter the district until Feb. 16, but 22 hours total were billed for a visit to Carroll High School on Dec. 17.

On Dec. 19, Bookert listed six hours to review best practices related to medical magnet programs, literature related to said programs and the review of the consent decree provisions that relate to her position.

"There are multiple charges for experts to conduct research on topics for which they were purported to be experts and hired as such," Vidrine wrote.

March 1-31

In March, 73 hours total were billed solely to compile the quarterly report. Campbell-Lewis charged 45 of those. Bookert billed 20 hours, and Henderson charged eight.

Campbell-Lewis listed two hours to draft emails, draft a template for the quarterly report and prepare for the quarterly report. On March 8, she charged another three hours to draft an outline.

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