The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office in Nashville issued a final state inspection of Memphis-Shelby County Schools on Wednesday morning.
According to State Comptroller Jason Mumpower, the audit details over $119 million in fraud, waste, abuse, or questioned expenses.
“The findings in this report represent some of the worst organizational management we have ever seen anywhere in government,” Mumpower said. “The failures are both unacceptable and indefensible.”
With 100,000 pupils, the Memphis Shelby County Schools District has a budget of roughly $1 billion.
During the press conference, TN House Speaker Cameron Sexton suggested there was an intentional attempt to cover it all up.
“They didn’t want this to be uncovered,” Sexton said. “I will tell you the one good thing that MSCS tried to do was to hide the receipts and the files from the auditors. They did a very good job of that because it took us 6 months, or so, to figure that out.”
Members of the MSCS board have stated that they wish to examine the final report before determining whether any modifications are necessary.
