Eight months after hearing allegations of malfeasance in the D.C. Board of Education’s charter school office, the city Inspector General’s Office has not yet released a report on its findings.
Staff at the agency have told city officials that the I.G. is waiting for a federal grand jury to finish its criminal investigation, but some officials are growing impatient.
“Having the Inspector General’s report sooner rather than later helps the Board [of Education] think through the next steps,” said Board Member Victor Reinoso, who has been nominated to become the deputy mayor for education. “I would imagine that the [District] Council and Congress will want to have a better understanding of what the issues were.”
The Inspector General’s office got involved in the charter school scandal after whistle-blower Steve Kapani came forward, alleging that his boss, Brenda Belton, was funneling money to her friends and to herself through a series of companies.
The I.G. handed the investigation over to the FBI, which raided Belton’s offices and home on May 31. The grand jury is focusing on criminal matters.
Belton was fired by the School Board last month.
But not all of the conduct in the scandal is criminal. And some say that the public ought to know which official knew what — and when.
“We don’t want this matter dragging out indefinitely,” said Adam Sharp, spokesman for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., the likely next chair of the Senate subcommittee that supervises the District.
Landrieu is an advocate of charter schools and it was her staff’s inquiries into Belton’s budget that first drew attention to the problems in the office.
“The movement to improve D.C.’s schools is best served by getting the facts out into the open, and holding those responsible to account for their actions,” Sharp told The Examiner.
Board of Education President-elect Robert Bobb said that the I.G.’s report doesn’t change the fact that the schools need drastic reform.
“You don’t want to interfere with a criminal investigation,” Bobb said. “But the board should know enough by know by know what procedures they need in place.”
