The investigation and internal audit began nine months ago.
Timothy J. RookeSPRINGFIELD – City councilors met in closed session with the city solicitor and internal auditor Wednesday, seeking further information regarding alleged financial irregularities and abuses at Putnam Vocation Technical High School.
The council’s Audit Committee voted to conduct the meeting in executive session because of the potential for “disciplinary and criminal” action, Councilor Timothy J. Rooke, said committee chairman.
The audit and investigation, which began nine months ago, has already led to an undisclosed number of suspensions, resignations and termination’s, City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said in late March.
Pikula and other officials have declined releasing names of any employee who was disciplined, citing the ongoing investigation and audit.
Rooke and Councilor Zaida Luna met Wednesday at City Hall with Pikula and Mark Ianello, the city’s director of internal audits, for an update on the audit and investigation.
Rooke said he was not able to comment on any specifics provided, but expects to have a full report within 30 to 45 days.
Pikula has not stated how many employees or how much money was involved, but said the audit was initiated after new principal Gilbert E. Traverso discovered financial irregularities in his first weeks on the job.
Rooke said he, too, sought an audit many months ago based on rumors of irregularities.
Kevin McCaskill, former principal at Putnam, said in April that he was unaware of financial problems at the school but accepts responsibility if any abuses occurred during his tenure. McCaskill left as principal in June for an administrative job in the Hartford school system.
Rooke said that if there has been “any misappropriation of taxpayer money, abuse of taxpayer money, no-show jobs or any other unacceptable behavior, we will ask for them to be prosecuted, and we will ask that the money be repaid.”