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The Southampton County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 27, to pursue a forensic audit of Southampton County Public Schools.

Investopedia.com states that a forensic audit “examines and evaluates a firm’s or individual’s financial records to derive evidence used in a court of law or legal proceeding.”

The Board of Supervisors’ decision followed a Citizens Comment Period earlier in the Aug. 27 meeting during which 17 people spoke, all expressing concerns about the state of the school system.

The board’s decision follows an extended period of time in which some members of the board have sought answers to specific questions regarding the school division’s finances.

The decision also follows specific concerns shared on social media and in person at the Aug. 27 board meeting regarding the state of the Southampton Middle School building.

Among the public speakers at the meeting was Michael Flythe, of Courtland.

“There’s ceiling tiles falling on the floor, the bathroom is completely unsanitary, and there is no child in this county, country or world that should have to go to this school under the circumstances they are in,” he said. “It is time, it is time to find out where the money is going. It’s definitely not going to the school.”

Pictures appearing to depict some of the scenes Flythe described were circulating on social media Monday, Aug. 26.

SCPS shared a news release shortly before 6 p.m. on Aug. 27 titled “Addressing Social Media Images at Southampton Middle School.”

The release read as follows:

“Although budget cuts and lack of additional funding has stagnated our progress in upgrading existing infrastructure, we strive to maintain the upkeep of our facilities to the highest of standards.

“We cannot confirm when the alleged circulating photos of Southampton Middle School were taken, nevertheless, we want to assure our students and families that maintaining a safe and productive learning environment is and will continue to be our top priority.

“We greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication of our custodians and staff members and are looking forward to a spectacular school year.”

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ ACTION

The Board of Supervisors held a closed session following the open session portion of its meeting on Aug. 27, and then the board returned to open session and took the following action before leaving for the night.

Northeast District Supervisor Christopher D. Cornwell Sr. said, “Mr. Chairman, I move to make the following motion, the first one being to direct staff to develop (a Request for Proposal) to conduct a forensic audit of the Southampton County Public School Division.”

Southeast District Supervisor Robert T. White seconded the motion, and there was a 6-0 vote to pass it.

Cornwell then said, “Mr. Chairman, I have a second motion I’d like to make, being that to direct staff to prepare a letter to the school board copying the superintendent to cooperate with said forensic audit request.”

White also seconded this motion, and there was another 6-0 vote to pass it.

EXCERPTS FROM THE CITIZENS COMMENT PERIOD

Following are excerpts from the Citizens Comment Period, which was the second item on the agenda of the Board of Supervisors’ Aug. 27 meeting and ended up constituting slightly more than an hour of the meeting’s two-hour runtime.

Robert Darden, of Courtland, said, “We need an audit to be done, somebody to come in and look at the books, because the money is not being spent where it’s supposed to be spent.”

Tony Clark, of Capron, said to supervisors, “You all are going to be asked to do a lot of things tonight, and I recognize the vast majority of those things you don’t have the remote ability to do. You don’t have the ability to remove a superintendent, you don’t have the ability to remove a sitting school board member. You don’t have the ability to fire, hire or do a lot of things in the buildings that need to be done.

“But you do have legal options at your disposal,” he added, specifically highlighting an audit of the financial books of the school system.

He indicated that the school system is failing and said that there is no more time to waste in reference to the efforts to save it.

“Every day that goes by we lose another child to a lack of a quality education, and that’s not something that any of us can stand by and allow to happen,” he said. “So I would implore you to do everything within your power to make sure that the school system is brought to account and held accountable immediately.”

Michael Drake, of Newsoms, came forward and asked for his time to be allotted to his niece, Amanda Hall, of Courtland.

“I’m here tonight to ask the Board of Supervisors to authorize and initiate a full, forensic audit of Southampton County Public Schools,” Hall said. “Using the authority provided in Code 15.2-2511 or 15.2-2512, we’re asking for your help to provide transparency and accountability for the division.”

In the Code of Virginia, section 15.2-2511 pertains to “Audit of local government records, etc.; Auditor of Public Accounts; audit of shortages; civil penalty.” Section 15.2-2512 pertains to “Audit of accounts of certain county officers, boards and commissions.”

Hall stated that a forensic audit could look at more than just the school division’s revenues and expenditures. 

“It would look at hiring practices and HR compliance, reimbursements for travel and expenses claimed by administration, compliance with records retention, compliance with establishing and paying stipends, purchasing and procurement practices, use and possession of credit cards, and possible conflicts of interest,” she said.

She then presented a list of reasons for supervisors to consider pursuing a forensic audit and asked supervisors to vet each and every one of them, if they had not already done so. Following are a few of the reasons listed.

“First, the monthly bills to be paid are never attached to the monthly (school board) meeting agenda for the public to easily access,” she said. “Next, the yearly expenditures by category have been wildly different than what has been budgeted, and the reallocation of categories is not discussed during school board meetings. In fact, when a school board member asked to see the spend-down monthly reports for the summer months for the end of 2023-24, it was stated that they won’t be ready until October because there’s so many final appropriations happening and switching categories of expenditures. This doesn’t appear to be sound accounting and spending practices.”

She stated that there are a number of positions within the school division that have remained vacant, yet the money for these positions remains in the budget with no explanation of how it was spent. 

“To summarize, the entire atmosphere and leadership could be understood by looking at the organizational structure, which they haven’t even published for this school year,” she said, speaking as of Aug. 27. “The titles and duties and salaries of the executive administration of the school division are not clearly stated, they are much too fluid and are not effective. Combine this with a school board that is nonresponsive, not transparent and apparently not fully informed and you have every reason in the world to want a forensic audit.

“Now when the need for a forensic audit was discussed previously in 2022, the counter argument was that since the school division is already a component of the county’s audit, what’s the need for an independent or a forensic audit?” she said. “There’s a tremendously huge difference between the audit required for the county, as specified by the Auditor of Public Accounts, and a forensic audit, which can address more than just the bottom-line financials of ‘Did the school division receive and expend the money they said they did?’”

Wendi Simmons, of Courtland, opened her comment by noting that she is a proud educator at SCPS, serving as the school counselor at Capron Elementary School.

“One of my biggest concerns is as a school counselor, we are responsible for the social, emotional and mental well-being of our kids, and I take that job very seriously,” she said. “I’ve been in education for 30 years, and I don’t think that I have ever been in a system like I am right now with the mental health crisis that we’re having.”

She encouraged the Board of Supervisors to “put our kids first” in their decision-making.

“Don’t let there be a child at home tonight that is dreading going to school because of inadequate schooling, inadequate leaders in our county,” she said. “Make the start and be the change today.”

Melissa Cornwell, of Sedley, noted that among her children, she has a son who just graduated from Southampton High School.

“We need a forensic audit, desperately, because there is a gross lack in our school system,” she said. “I felt like my son was failed during his senior year. If it wasn’t for Paul D. Camp (Community College) and the fact that he took dual enrollment and he had tremendous help from them, I feel like he would not have excelled in our school system and he would not have graduated with honors and he would not be attending Virginia Tech today.”

Kevin Moore, of Courtland, said to the Board of Supervisors, “I implore you to push forward for this forensic audit,” and David Edwards, of Sedley, said, “What y’all can do, get it done.”

The Board of Supervisors’ meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the county website at www.southamptoncounty.org/departments/administration/live_stream_meetings.php/.