Is this a good time to call in the feds?

With local Republicans asking the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of the Inspector General to investigate an audit of Winchester’s 2009-10 school budget, one has to wonder whether those still complaining are really trying to serve the best interests of the town.For the past two years, members of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education have been at odds regarding that particular fiscal year, which saw $1.1 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) funds given to Winsted by the State of Connecticut to make up for a deficit in Education Cost Sharing money. The money was given to the municipality with the express condition that it be transferred to the school district, which could spend the money on staff salaries. Somewhere along the line, the accounting for that money became so convoluted that it confused even the town’s highest-paid officials who were supposed to be watching where it went, and when the final audit came through, it was noted that the Board of Education “did not keep adequate records to support journal entries” and that the board’s records of spending do not appear to reflect proper allocation of funds under ARRA rules.Is there a problem? Absolutely. The Board of Education has had many problems with its accounting practices, made most obvious by the fact that the audit itself was 11 months late. School officials who say the accounting problems are “normal” certainly have some more explaining to do, and it would be wise of them to hold a public meeting pertaining specifically to the problems outlined in the audit.But should town officials jump to the conclusion that another investigation is necessary — this time by the federal government? That decision seems like a harsh one, fueled by the same personal and political conflicts that only served to prolong this fiasco.In their letter to the DOE, Selectmen Glenn Albanesius and Ken Fracasso join Board of Education members Carol Palomba and James Roberts in asking the Inspector General to take a closer look at Winsted’s finances. “... we are concerned that the majority members of both our Boards of Education and Selectmen fail to appreciate the gravity of these matters and are not exercising a level of financial oversight commensurate with what our auditor has termed ‘material weaknesses,’ ” the letter states. “Should the Department of Education find that repayment of these moneys is required, such liability far exceeds our town’s extant available fund balance and will give rise to significant fiscal difficulties for our community.”If you read the words closely, you will see essentially members of one political party complaining to the federal government that they don’t like the decisions being made by members of an opposing political party. You may also note that similar complaints have already been heard at the state level and have been deemed unwarranted, so this letter amounts to an escalation of a local political conflict to the federal arena, which you wouldn’t expect good “less government” Republicans to be so interested in doing.There absolutely are questions that need to be answered, and members of the Board of Education should be eager to address them fully. But pulling in the feds without having gotten to the bottom of local school budget problems is another misstep by members of the local GOP who seem to be more interested in fighting with their neighbors than helping the town.