Audit of CPS' procedures for rewarding noncompetive deals to be delayed
A review of how Chicago Public Schools awards noncompetitive contracts that was promised by district officials in light of a federal criminal investigation is behind schedule.
School board members last month said they followed the proper procedures in awarding a $20.5 million no-bid contract to a former employer of district chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett that is at the center of the federal probe.
The board at the same time unveiled plans to hire a firm to "review and assess" how CPS awards no-bid business "to ensure the full integrity of the sourcing decision."
Preliminary findings were expected by next Friday, but an auditor has yet to be selected. Results are now expected June 12.
The delay is rooted in a process interim CPS chief Jesse Ruiz established last week to select an auditor
A three-person committee of district officials was formed to select one of three vendors that want the job, according to a district spokesman and a May 7 memo from Ruiz.
Ruiz also ordered the school system's inspector general's office and legal teams to examine the review's "final scope" and the auditor's work plans before the review begins.
"This is another step to ensure the integrity of the selection process is protected," said district spokesman Bill McCaffrey.
"It is essential that the sole-source process review is done effectively," McCaffrey said. "And to make sure that takes place, CPS formed a committee of senior leaders from several departments to select the vendor that will carry out the review."
Byrd-Bennett has taken leave amid the inquiry into a training deal with the SUPES Academy firm the board signed off on in 2013. Byrd-Bennett worked for the company and a related entity before taking a job at CPS.
Contracts not acquired on a competitive basis — known in district parlance as "sole-source" items — are expressly discouraged by the Chicago Board of Education's purchasing rules and subject to several stipulations before approval.
Officials are to consider a firm's unique qualifications and the unique nature of its work, the rules say, along with "the basis for the determination that the costs, fees or rates negotiated are fair and reasonable given the absence of a competitive basis award."
Any school entity requesting a sole-source deal "should carefully consider all available resources before requesting a sole source award," one section of the board's policy states.
Ruiz and board President David Vitale have said the district followed such procedures in awarding the SUPES contract but have not discussed in detail the events leading up to the latest contract's approval.
"Part of the role of any board is to second-guess management, challenge management. We did that," Ruiz said in April.
jjperez@tribpub.com
Twitter @PerezJr
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