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Committee flags vendor outliers, activity‑bus costs and contract closeout problems
Summary
Members asked staff to investigate high vendor bills and identical vendor charges, pressed for a breakdown of legal fees, questioned a $174,135 activity bus purchase and urged faster capital closeouts and stronger contract terms including liquidated damages to prevent delays.
Board members on the Beaufort County School District finance committee pressed staff on several transparency and procurement concerns raised in the September report, requesting follow‑up on vendor outliers, legal fees and project closeouts.
Chair Chad highlighted the district made 538 Amazon purchases in September and urged staff to compare Amazon and Staples pricing with local vendors "to make sure the district is doing some comparison shopping." He also asked technology to explain identical Apple charges of $6,291.60 that appeared for elementary schools.
Members flagged unusually high water and sewer bills from Buford Water and Sewer Authority at Ladies Island Middle School and Whale Branch High School and asked the operations committee to investigate "to see if we have an operations issue that's causing those water and sewer bills to be far and exceed the rest of the schools," Chad said. Mr. Dallas confirmed an ops process check would be added to future reports.
A board member, Mr. Smith, raised concerns about legal fees listed on page 17 and asked for a historical breakdown by type and vendor. Staff said these charges are currently captured in operations and maintenance columns and that a more detailed report can be produced showing internal and external legal fees and the matters charged (land easements, purchases, sales).
The committee also examined a $174,135 activity bus purchase for May River High School. Members discussed how activity buses differ from state‑funded yellow buses, procurement lead times and the infrastructure implications of switching to electric buses, including the need for charging stations countywide.
The session turned to capital projects that remain open from prior years. Chair Chad said repeated open contracts are hurting contingency releases and urged a firmer stance with vendors: "...we should have a date that says, you will close out this contract by this date, and if you don't, you pay a penalty every month until you do." Staff replied recent RFQs now include start, midterm and completion dates and liquidated damages to hold contractors accountable.
The committee directed staff and the operations committee to report back with specific follow‑ups on the Apple purchases, the vendor billing outliers and a multi‑year legal‑fee breakdown.
