Committee probes custodial vendor billing and permitted-event coverage after SJ Services dispute

The Finance and Operations Committee of the New Haven School District spent an extended portion of its April 7 meeting probing billing, contract performance and coverage gaps tied to SJ Services, a custodial vendor, after staff said SJ Services declined to provide permitted-event work in late 2024.

Committee members and staff described a months-long reconciliation of SJ Services invoices that began when facilities staff started reviewing time sheets and found the vendor had used a paper-based system rather than the required electronic clocking system. Miss Boren, a district staff member who led the briefing, said negotiations produced reduced invoices but that SJ Services stopped performing permitted-event work in November after disputes over hours and payment.

"We were able to negotiate that down to 463,000," Miss Boren said of a summer billing originally presented at about $508,000, and added that because SJ Services stopped permitted work the district temporarily engaged ABM to avoid service disruptions at venues such as FLAC and Hill House.

The committee pressed staff on technical and contractual controls. Members asked how the district verifies who showed up for shifts and whether SJ Services was invoiced for absences. Facilities staff answered that SJ Services implemented a geofencing-style clocking app around late August or early September after the district required an electronic system; the facilities representative said the app captures when employees "clock in via an app, and the app checks their location through a geofencing-type of location service." Michael Carter, the facilities lead named in the discussion, and other staff have reviewed time sheets and are continuing negotiations, staff said.

Multiple committee members expressed concern that SJ Services invoiced for permitted events while ABM also billed for covering those same events during the same period. Miss Downer urged staff to confirm whether overlapping invoices exist and asked for legal review. "I think this needs to be investigated," she said. "This is definitely a situation where you have them not holding up and I don't know how much you could even — how ethical it is."

Staff said they would provide the committee with invoice-level detail before the full-board meeting and that the district's RFQ/RFP for part-time custodial services closes April 8. Miss Bourne said monthly hours were submitted to the business office each month even when a vendor later rolled them up into a larger billing; she asked the committee to let staff supply a precise timeline and invoice copies.

Committee members asked legal staff for options to address vendors that fail to perform. Attorney Alexiadis advised that district contracts commonly include termination clauses giving the district the right to end a contract on notice (typically 60 days) and noted there is a debarment process the city can use to exclude vendors from future procurements. Committee members also urged that future RFPs include stronger verification and remediation language based on lessons learned.

The committee agreed to move the related purchase orders to the full board and requested an update at the next Finance and Operations meeting with detailed invoices, clarifications about which vendor covered specific dates and an accounting of any potential duplicate payments.

Ending

Committee members asked staff to return with a fuller written accounting: month-by-month invoices, identification of any overlapping billings between SJ Services and ABM, and confirmation of which permits and events were covered by each vendor. Staff committed to provide that information before the full-board meeting and to include legal guidance on contract remedies and debarment options.