Bills Unpaid in School Board Absences
Melanie Burney, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 12, 2004

LINK

The Camden board has been unable to muster a quorum, leaving payments to creditors and other business in limbo.

Its creditors are demanding payment, but the Camden school board cannot pay most of its bills.

For two months, South Jersey's largest public school system has been hamstrung by absent school board members. The board, responsible for a $316 million annual budget, has been unable to muster a quorum of five members and canceled several meetings.

"We can't keep going like this," Board President Philip E. Freeman Sr. said.

In a move that state officials hope will quickly solve the problem, acting Gov. Richard J. Codey has summoned the Rev. Ivonne Martinez, an appointed board member, to Trenton to explain her 15 absences.

Last week, with the cancellation of a meeting for the ninth time, dozens of contracts, payments to vendors, promotions, transfers and new hires were left in limbo.

Among those affected was EEJ Mechanical Inc., a Barrington firm that repairs heating systems in the district's nearly three dozen schools. The company threatened to sever ties with the district unless it received overdue payments totaling more than $200,000.

Freeman asked district officials Friday to seek permission from the state Department of Education to pay the bill. "With the winter coming, we can't afford to have our students freezing," he said.

Also this week, the district had to seek state approval to make a $48,000 payment for an insurance policy covering the district's student athletes that would have otherwise lapsed.

With the board unable to approve fiscal matters, state Education Commissioner William Librera gave Camden Superintendent Annette D. Knox permission to take steps necessary to keep the district running, such as signing off on the payroll for nearly 4,000 employees and paying utility and telephone bills.

"The direction we've given them is simply to do the basics," said Jon Zlock, a Department of Education spokesman.

Board policy allows district officials to pay bills up to $20,000 and seek board approval later, but many expenses exceed that.

Knox has been compiling a list of the most urgent bills to be paid, business administrator Lee Brockington said. Meanwhile, the business office receives 10 to 15 telephone calls a day from aggravated vendors seeking payment. "It puts you in a precarious and embarrassing position," he said.

The board could approve the bills at its next scheduled meeting on Dec. 20 - if enough members are present.

Two seats on the nine-member board are vacant, pending appointments by Codey, and spokeswoman Kelley Heck said Friday that the governor hoped to fill the vacancies soon.

The board was restructured in 2003 under the state's $175 million plan to revitalize Camden. As part of the plan, school board elections were suspended until next year. As their terms expired, elected members were replaced with three appointments by then-Gov. James McGreevey in 2003 and three by Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison in April.

Three appointed members accounted for the most absences - a total of 39 through Dec. 1.

Martinez was appointed by McGreevey; two others he appointed have resigned. That leaves the board, which should have nine members, two short until Codey replaces them.

Heck said Martinez, a McGreevey appointee, will be asked to go to Trenton to explain her absences. Martinez's home telephone number has been disconnected and she could not be reached.

Martinez, the board's vice president, told the board last week that she was on disability and could not attend meetings.

Asked whether Codey would consider removing Martinez, Heck said: "At this point he's seeking an explanation."

Faison also has said that she planned to find out why her appointees have missed meetings. One of those, Luis Lopez, complained that the board meets too frequently.

Without a full board, the seven current members have been overburdened with meetings and committee assignments, said elected board member Keith Carver, who has missed six meetings. "It's a lot of wear and tear."

Contact staff writer Melanie Burney at 856-779-3876 or mburney@phillynews.com.