Report: Miami-Dade School District Misused $6M For Driver’s Ed Programs

2 years ago 192

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – In Miami-Dade County, which notoriously boasts immoderate of the worst drivers successful the nation, a programme was created decades agone to assistance nationalist schools bid the adjacent procreation of safety-conscious young motorists.

The concept: $3 of each Miami postulation summons paid goes to the Drivers Education Safety Fund, portion of a programme Miami-Dade County created to reimburse schools that supply cars for important behind-the-wheel driving lessons.

But successful reality, according to a recently released schoolhouse territory Inspector General’s report, the Miami-Dade schoolhouse territory programme was successful shambles — adjacent arsenic it raked successful $6.2 cardinal that coiled up being enactment into a wide fund.

Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, a territory spokeswoman, said the territory utilized each of the wealth successful immoderate mode for the driver’s ed program. She said the funds had to spell done the wide money due to the fact that “that’s the mechanics we usage to wage the salaries of the teachers successful those programs.”

To get the money, schoolhouse administrators knowingly misrepresented the authorities of the driver’s ed program, the probe revealed. Between fiscal years 2011 and 2016, the territory claimed to the region that either 36 oregon 37 campuses had moving programs that met each aspects of the assistance requirements — but successful fact, lone six campuses did.

Gonzalez-Diego said each but 3 of the precocious schools offered “either classroom, virtual oregon behind-the-wheel instruction.”

“The contented is that the assistance required a behind-the-wheel acquisition component, which lone existed successful six of these schools,” Gonzalez-Diego said successful an email.

Some resourceful teachers brought their ain idiosyncratic video crippled consoles — outfitted with mini instrumentality controllers and driving games — to assistance students signifier however to drive. One driver’s ed teacher told agents she had to usage a literal instrumentality to displacement gears — the existent cogwheel shifter had agelong agone breached off. Another teacher was forced to usage an electrical play cart to thatch students however to drive.

CARS WERE IN ‘HORRIBLE CONDITION’

Office of Inspector General agents recovered 1 grooming car, a dilapidated 1998 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, abandoned successful a territory parking batch truthful agelong that wasps had nested inside. The cars that were really being utilized to bid students were each models from the precocious 1990s, according to the study by Miami-Dade Inspector General Felix Jimenez.

“Most of the cars passim the territory were successful horrible condition, including cars with shattered windows, level tires, rusted and dented roofs, and doors,” the study said. “At 1 location, the car was serving arsenic an iguana nest.”

The Inspector General’s Office is present recommending that the schoolhouse territory beef up its drivers acquisition program, and statesman paying the spot money backmost the wealth — oregon astatine least, enactment further wealth into the programme arsenic a recognition against the misappropriated funds. The territory says it’s connected board.

“Staff volition collaborate with Miami-Dade County to reconstruct an effectual and accessible operator acquisition programme for students successful our community,” Deputy Superintendent Jaime Torrens wrote to the Inspector General successful effect to the report.

The probe was not considered transgression successful quality due to the fact that the wealth was not stolen, but alternatively applied to morganatic uses, though extracurricular the scope of the driver’s ed program.

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM

The wealth that was expected to spell toward schoolhouse territory operator acquisition programs came from the Drivers Education Safety Trust Fund created by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners successful 2002. It was fed by $3 added to each civilian postulation citation, according to the report.

The spot money was created acknowledgment to a 2002 Florida law, the Dori Slosberg Drivers Education Safety Act, which allowed section governments to usage portions of summons fines to money postulation schools successful nationalist and non-public schools. The Drivers Education Safety Fund was meant to amended existing drivers ed programs, ensuring backing for programs that necessitate astatine slightest 30 percent of a student’s clip is really down the instrumentality of a car.

The instrumentality is named aft Dori Slosberg, a 14-year-old miss who was killed successful a horrific postulation clang successful Palm Beach County. Four different teens besides died successful the wreck.

The Office of Inspector General began its probe aft receiving a ailment alleging improper usage of the funds, Jimenez said successful his report.

SPECIAL NEEDS DRIVING PROGRAM STOPPED

The region programme besides required backing toward providing students with peculiar needs operator education, but that hasn’t happened since December 2015. That’s due to the fact that the lone teacher successful that programme retired a period earlier and was ne'er replaced, according to the report.

District officials reacted to the study astatine the School Board’s gathering Thursday night. Both Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Chief Financial Officer Ron Steiger said the region wealth did spell to operator acquisition programs. But, they acknowledged the territory did not walk capable of it, arsenic is required nether the statute, teaching kids however to really thrust a car.

“Even though it is perfectly close that the funds were utilized strictly for drivers ed acquisition program, the crushed wherefore determination was a occupation was that programme fell abbreviated successful a fig of cases, obviously, of the required 30% minimum clip down the instrumentality arsenic acold arsenic acquisition was concerned,” Carvalho told School Board members.

But, the study intelligibly states administrators successful complaint of submitting requests for funds from the region knowingly falsified the paperwork to marque it look arsenic if the territory had a acold much robust operator acquisition programme than existed astatine the time.

DISTRICT PROVIDED FALSE INFORMATION TO COUNTY

For example, the study details that successful Jan. 28, 2013, Jayne Greenberg, who was then-director of the district’s Physical Education, Health Literacy and Life Skills section and tasked with overseeing the operator acquisition program, told Martha Diaz, then-executive fund director, that lone six schools qualified for afloat backing from the county.

But, 2 days later, Diaz, erstwhile responding to an email from the region asking for a database of qualified schools, provided 36. When interviewed by OIG during the investigation, she told them she knew the database was not close and provided the mendacious accusation “for the sole intent of receiving 100% of the backing disposable from the region to screen teachers salaries and fringe benefits,” according to the report.

She besides told agents she provided the database of 36 schools due to the fact that she was asked to bash truthful by then-Deputy Chief Financial Officer Judith Marte and Steiger, who astatine the clip was the district’s main fund officer.

“I wouldn’t person done it otherwise,” she told agents, according to the report.

Steiger did not instantly instrumentality an email seeking remark connected Diaz’s comments to the agents. Marte, who yet became main fiscal serviceman earlier resigning from the territory successful 2017, could not beryllium reached for comment. Steiger succeeded her arsenic CFO aft she stepped down.

The schoolhouse territory released the pursuing connection astir the study Friday, saying that Steiger began correcting the reimbursement argumentation soon aft helium became CFO:

“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is disappointed with the series of events that unluckily led to the findings successful the OIG report. We concur with, and are already implementing, the recommendations outlined. It is important to enactment that each funds received from the region were solely utilized to enactment the drivers ed program. Prior to the OIG investigation, successful 2017 our existent Chief Financial Officer took contiguous enactment to guarantee that lone allowable expenses were submitted to the region for reimbursement. Since then, we person taken a blimpish attack to seeking reimbursement from the county. It is regrettable that for 3 years, astatine the tallness of the economical recession, budgetary decisions circumstantial to this programme were made without afloat taking into relationship programmatic considerations. Today, determination are safeguards successful spot that would forestall this from occurring. Despite this study being finalized, we proceed to look astatine a fig of matters disclosed successful the findings.”

Gonzalez-Diego said the territory bought 23 caller cars for the programme successful 2019.

District 6 School Board Member Mari Tere Rojas said that the operator acquisition program’s authorities of disrepair, and the district’s alleged dishonesty to the region implicit the program, cheated galore students retired of years of invaluable acquisition down the wheel.

“When you look astatine this, you wonder, thousands of students successful different schools were deprived of the accidental to enactment successful the drivers acquisition program. And, these students were not afforded the aforesaid accidental to larn due to the fact that it’s lone offered astatine these schools that are identified here,” Rojas said.

Steiger, responding to Rojas, insisted that each the wealth requested from the region went to operator education, again, admitting astir schools’ programs did not fulfill the request for existent instrumentality time.

He besides said his bureau did not cognize it was giving the region mendacious accusation astir the program.

“In 2020, (the Inspector General agents) did a batch of owed diligence astir what the programme was similar betwixt 2012 and 2015. Clearly, the fund bureau did not,” Steiger said. “The fund bureau took assumptions and submitted it to the county, and the Inspector General is coming backmost years aboriginal and saying these assumptions were wrong.”

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