A recent Measure E performance audit raised some of the same concerns about the Beverly Hills Unified School District’s construction program presented to the school board in years past.

Horace Mann, pictured as it underwent construction a few years ago, was one of the primary beneficiaries of the district’s Measure E funding. (photo courtesy of the Beverly Hills Unified School District)

According to the audit, conducted by accounting firm Moss Adams, the district did not sufficiently document payments made for Measure E-related work to comply with its own policy. It also found that the district did not have documentation to show competitive solicitation for nine of its active contractors.

The audit detailed a list of other program management, budget management and change order reporting procedures in place.

School board members, however, said they were optimistic that those concerns will be resolved within the next month under new personnel leading district facilities.

“It appears that the audit was well carried out and there’s some real concerns here about a lot of cleanup,” school board member Mel Spitz said. “In fact, more than we’ve seen in prior audits. I feel certain that a lot of the observations, needs for improvement, may already be cleaned up because of the management we now have over the construction. What I think the board should see within a reasonable amount of time is a report from our construction managers and from staff on each and every one of these observations as to where we stand.”

Measure E was approved by Beverly Hills voters in 2008 to issue $334 million in general obligation bonds. It has funded structural seismic repairs, classroom repairs and other infrastructure upgrades at multiple school sites. Independent performance audits and a Citizens Oversight Committee have been in place for added accountability

Last year’s audit, also conducted by Moss Adams, was also critical of the district for not being able to provide documentation to show that competitive bid processes for change orders were held, among other reasons. The district’s facilities and planning procedures manual requires a formal solicitation process for agreements over $83,400.

“Part of this feels like déjà vu every year, and part of it is it seems like when we take a step forward, we also take a step back,” school board member Noah Margo said at the time.

“Some of it for me has been repetitive from years past,” school board member Isabel Hacker said on Tuesday. “I do think that this year was a little bit more critical.”

School board member Howard Goldstein said he’d like the board to receive monthly reports to better keep track of construction.

“We need to make sure that we get this right moving forward,” he said.

Among the good management practices the audit pointed out were that the district uses other revenue sources to bolster its available Measure E funding. It also posts Citizen Oversight Committee meetings minutes to the district website, regularly updates the Measure E bond program website, and has a policy and procedures manual for its construction activities.

Beverly Hills voters will decide in June whether to grant the district $385 in general obligation bonds to continue its construction program, with upgrades scheduled for the high school and El Rodeo School. The Board of Education voted 5-0 on Feb. 27 to put the measure on the ballot, and it will require support from 55 percent of voters to pass.

The new construction would include bolstering earthquake and fire safety, and repairing or replacing roofs and electrical systems. Expenditures would also be evaluated by an independent audit. It would levy 4.4 cents per $100 of assessed value, $23.7 million annually, according to the bond language.

In November 2016, a $260 million bond measure fell a few percentage points short of passage.