Cronyism, misspent funds and disregard for state laws forced East Detroit Public Schools to cut jobs and left a $28 million construction project unfinished, according to a newspaper report.
District voters in 1996 approved the bond-financed program to shore up crumbling buildings and add resources to schools that had built a solid reputation for educating children.
Four years later construction has stopped, leaving about eight buildings without some repairs completed. The bond program is more than a year behind schedule and $6 million over budget, The Detroit News reported Sunday.
The problems have led to a $3.9 million budget deficit, requiring school officials to eliminate 37 jobs, including 24 teachers, over the next three years.
The difficulty traces back to the dealings of former Superintendent John F. Gardiner and Finance Director David Scothorn, both the focus of a federal investigation of the 6,700-student district, the News said.
Federal investigators declined to discuss the probe, but interviews and documents obtained through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act revealed: The district handed out construction jobs without obtaining proper contracts, paid some contractors on school projects twice and paid for work that was never completed.
The paper also reported that William J. Hudson Jr., the builder who managed the construction projects and a lifelong friend of Gardiner, collected $4 million in fees from the construction program, more than double what had been estimated.
