Baltimore Schools Face Delays in Payments and Overtime Tracking, State Audit Reveals

A newly released audit from Maryland’s Office of Legislative Audits has uncovered ongoing challenges within the Baltimore City school system, particularly in the areas of timely payments to vendors and the tracking of overtime for school police officers.

According to the report, which covers the period from 2017 to 2022, nearly half of the vendors—49%—did not receive their payments on time, with over 16,000 invoices remaining unpaid for more than three months.

Additionally, the audit revealed that the district allocated $2.1 million for overtime pay to school police officers during the same timeframe. A significant portion of this pay, over 80%, was received by just 32 officers, with instances of hours worked being compensated without prior approval.

In response to the findings, CEO Sonja Santelises emphasized the context of these issues, noting the impact of the pandemic and the introduction of substantial federal aid. She pointed out that the district is in the process of implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which began in 2023, to enhance operational efficiency.

“It’s been 20 years since the district had a new system,” Santelises stated in an interview. The ERP system aims to improve communication and documentation across human resources, technology, and finance departments, addressing some of the concerns raised in the audit.

Furthermore, the outdated software was cited as a contributing factor to the lack of criminal history screenings for some new employees. Santelises acknowledged that while the ERP system won’t resolve all issues, it represents a significant modernization effort that will help close existing gaps.

Despite the challenges highlighted in the audit, Santelises noted that there are fewer areas of vulnerability compared to the last audit conducted five years ago. She expressed optimism that future audits will reflect improvements brought about by the new digital system.

“We’re working diligently to address the findings and understand what has been resolved and what remains in progress,” she added.

Reported by HarborBeat based on WYPR (source).