Maybe I missed something, but the Rhino’s account kinda dangles contractor Dennis Cole’s “inappropriate relationship” with another Guilford County Schools employee during which he was able “to access information which, in his position, he should not have.”
Never mind —- the bigger story is any concerns you had while watching GCS’ revolving-door facilities department botch construction projects may have officially been confirmed:
Whether or not Cole was actually working under a contract, and how much he has been paid since he began working for Guilford County Schools in 2007, is an open question. The school system’s rejection of Cole comes at the same time that Ozment, to whom LaRowe reports, is investigating the Guilford County Schools Facilities Department’s financial and contracting records, which, after a series of chief operations officers and construction program managers, are reportedly in shambles.
Contracting CCA was intended to save money for Guilford County Schools by avoiding hiring permanent employees, but his company has billed the school system through a stack of purchase orders five inches thick, and the school system does not know exactly how much it has paid Cole or his company.
Carr said that, as long as six months ago, Ozment began digging into the finances of the Facilities Department in an effort to understand how it hired and paid its contractors.
I’ll only add that these are the people who are overseeing the $457 million in bonds approved by voters.
