As reported in the Harvard Press last week, certain regulations regarding confidentiality of student records may have been violated in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for information. It should be noted that due diligence was carefully exercised by town management prior to releasing the information by contacting a state agency for guidance on the process. Unfortunately, the guidance rendered by the state agency was less than accurate. The confidentiality regulations as defined last week would, in a practical sense, limit the Special Education payment process to complete anonymity of vendor on the School Committee payment schedule and the selectmen warrant schedule. In essence, all controls for payment approval would rest with the department head, which would be in conflict with Massachusetts General Laws. In a functional sense the ruling would require special education reimbursements listed on the payment schedules and warrant documents to be labeled as “John Doe.” This approach could be an invitation to the misuse of public funds.
A simple solution might be to record all reimbursements (regular ed, special ed, employee stipends, and reimbursements) in one account labeled “Undistributed,” with specific account coding as to respective school cost center. This procedure would identify the actual payee but not disclose the funding source. At the close of the fiscal year the “Undistributed” account activity could be reclassified by an accounting entry to the respective cost center, thus preserving the confidentiality of the funding source.
What is most poignant about the article last week is the quote that was attributed to Ms. Kaufmann, who stated, “The town hires Special Education professionals to evaluate how special education funds are spent. People need to trust those professionals.”
What is interesting about the unfortunate events that led to the DOE finding is that if the superintendent of schools, Thomas Jefferson, had abided by the initial decision of Director of Special Education Charles Horn, the controversy over the private school tuition payments could have been avoided.
George McKenna
Old Littleton Road
