PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — $40,000 on a leadership training course in Orlando that included a trip to Universal Studios.
A $14,000 team building trip to Annapolis, Maryland, including a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay.
Dinners totaling $250,000 for board meetings.
Those were among the findings from the performance audit of the Delaware County Intermediate Unit for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.
One of the regional educational agencies established by state law, the DCIU provides special education, early childhood programs and career and technical education.
Pennsylvania auditor general Timothy DeFoor said the high-priced expenses for the organization, which is partly funded by local school districts, are just part of the issue in their more than $200 million budget.
“They couldn’t prove documentation showing they received the goods or services they paid for,” DeFoor said.
DCIU interim executive director Jim Scanlon said he thinks the audit process is “flawed.”
“There is no violation of school code,” Scanlon said. “There’s nothing illegal [or] unethical in there. They say we don’t maintain our contracts; we do maintain our contracts.”
Scanlon conceded the organization has room for improvement, and he said they are already working on cutting spending.
The full audit includes 21 recommendations for the board in hopes of improving efficiency and accountability.
