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Board tables ABM/SJ Services purchase orders after members raise billing and oversight concerns
Summary
Board members voted to table two purchase orders tied to custodial services after a board member raised discrepancies about staffing, attendance records and missing subcontract documents; district staff said measures are in place to improve contract monitoring.
The New Haven Board of Education voted March 19 to table two purchase orders (items 6.01 and 6.02) after board members expressed concern about custodial contracting, invoicing and documentation.
Board Member Miss Downer asked the board to table the items, citing what she described as discrepancies in attendance and subcontracting records and a lack of supporting contract documents. "We don't even have... the actual contract, the subcontract that they actually have with ABM and SJ Services," she said. She asked the board to delay approving payment until the district could confirm whether work was performed.
District staff member Mr. Carter responded that the district had previously monitored SJ Services and found unaccounted hours; he said the district brought in ABM on an interim basis and that the next procurement will include clearer monitoring requirements. "The lesson learned from this whole process was that the RFP did not have in place the monitoring mechanisms to validate the hours worked," Carter said. He told the board the district had deducted charges where documentation did not support billed hours and that SJ Services had agreed to provide the required documentation.
Board Member Dr. Joyner and others said the concerns warranted a deeper review; a motion to table the two purchase orders carried. The roll call recorded one abstention by Mr. Juarez; other members present voted to table. The board directed staff to present fuller documentation and a memo to the finance and operations committee for follow-up.
Separately, after returning from executive session the board approved remaining purchase orders, an amendment and a resolution listed on the agenda; board members said the tabled items will return to a future meeting after staff review.
