A new report says the Alamance-Burlington School System may have violated its own policies and broken state law while navigating a multimillion-dollar mold cleanup last year. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Alamance-Burlington School System found mold in 30 of 36 schools last summer and launched a multimillion-dollar cleanup

  • The state report says the district may have broken state law and violated its own policies that deal with making purchases 

  • ABSS spent almost $30 million on removing mold and restoring buildings, overspending by more than $4 million 

  • In the past week, the district has cut positions and canceled summer school sessions due to budget constraints

Last August, mold was found in 30 of 36 schools in the district, prompting the start of school to be delayed until September. The report shows mold remediation cost ABSS a total of almost $30 million, and the district spent over $4 million more than it had allocated in its budget.

In February, as the district continued to struggle with funding, Republican state Sen. Amy Galey, who represents part of Alamance County, asked the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations to investigate how ABSS managed the cleanup process.

In a letter published by Galey, the commission says ABSS may have violated its own policies when entering a no-bid contract with a restoration company. The letter cites a policy that states all purchases of services will be made “under conditions that foster competition among potential providers when feasible and after careful pricing.” 

The justification provided by the district is that the situation was an emergency because the mold was discovered only a few weeks before the school year was set to begin. 

In addition to possibly violating district policies, the report states the district may have broken state law by signing remediation contracts with insufficient funds, spending money it didn’t have. State law prohibits school systems from spending more money than is allocated in the district's budget. 

The commission said the problem is that the district exposed itself to “undue liability” while being on already shaky financial ground, implying ABSS cannot afford the possible consequences of cutting legal corners. 

On Tuesday, the county’s Board of Education voted to eliminate two positions, impacting seven employees, and to shave off a month of employment from three other positions. Just two days later, the district announced it was canceling the voluntary sessions of rising kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade and high school summer school due to lack of funding. 

Interim superintendent Bill Harrison told WXII that the report was a waste of money and didn't reveal anything that wasn’t already known. Harrison took on the role in March after former superintendent Dain Butler resigned. Two weeks earlier, chief financial officer Kim McVey parted ways with the district. In ABSS, the CFO serves at the pleasure of the superintendent, which, at the time, was Butler. 

It's unclear what the penalties would be for a district breaking state law. The statute that was broken outlines penalties only in the case an individual employee was responsible, in which case the employee would be liable for the funds spent.