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Schools

Learning group off fiscal hook

The Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition resolves a vital audit complaint.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published September 16, 2005

SAN ANTONIO - The Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition still has work to do to repair its public image, but apparently that won't include reimbursing the state for several years of grant money.

Coalition chairwoman Lisa Hammond said Thursday that the state Office of Early Learning was satisfied by the coalition's explanation of how it raised matching funds to obtain grant money totaling $695,854.

"It's been verbally resolved," she said.

Officials with the state agency, which is responsible for implementing prekindergarten programs, were traveling Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

In an audit released last month, the agency took issue with several aspects of how the local early learning coalition was doing business. The most serious finding involved the grant money, which the coalition must match with cash and in-kind services. The state said that the contributions the coalition had reported as in-kind from the Pasco County School Board for at least the past three years did not qualify.

But Hammond said the coalition was able to demonstrate its accounting methods were sound.

"They are now satisfied that everything is okay," she said, noting that she was waiting for a formal letter to release the coalition from having to repay the money.

Another problem area, according to the state, was the coalition's inefficient governance. Members are tackling that, too.

They met on Thursday at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club in San Antonio for another in a series of sessions on how to better govern themselves. One goal is to clearly distinguish the duties of the coalition's executive director from those of the board.

Publicized bickering among some board members and coalition director Jim Garrett climaxed last month with his resignation. Garrett's last day on the job was Sept. 9.

Coalition members initially said they would immediately launch a search for his replacement. But the executive board recommended this week to postpone a search until April, Hammond said, because the ongoing governance process could change what the coalition is looking for in a new executive director.

Members named Hernando-based deputy director Jo-Ann Kay Fuller as acting director until a search is conducted. Her annual salary will be increased to $70,000 while she leads the coalition.

Coalition member Dave Marshall requested that the director search begin sooner than April if a governance process is in place so as not to give the Fuller a daunting edge in the competition.

Fuller will be eligible to apply for the permanent position, and Marshall worried that "the pool of applicants will be chilled because there is an executive director sitting there for X number of months . . . with a head start on the position."

[Last modified September 16, 2005, 01:36:17]