By Dan Murphy
Save Mount Vernon, a watchdog group of Mount Vernon residents is alleging that the Mt. Vernon school district misused $8.5 Million in grant funding. And it appears that the group has data to back up their claims.
About 50 grants were awarded to a company, Just Inspire, for over $8 Million since 2016. Published reports claim that Just Inspire is owned by Marlon Stephenson, the son of Mount Vernon Schools Superintendent Dr. Waveline Bennet Conroy, and was hired to work on a number of programs, including data management, grant writing, STEAM Camp, and parent classes.
“We also understand that the company was hired to deliver services for $8.2 million,” said Save Mount Vernon co-founder Jesse Van Lewis, who held a press conference last week asking NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to conduct an investigation or audit, of the school district.
The School District said that they will hire an outside expert to investigate the matter. But another Mount Vernon resident, Chris McDonough, who works as an educational consultant for other school districts, questioned Just Inspire’s qualifications to provide numerous services.
McDonough posted some of his findings on mountvernoncitizen.org. He added that Just Inspire had no prior experience in servicing these types of grants for other school district.
Just Inspire’s website said it has worked with school districts in Rockland County to provide educational services, but with no other details. Recently Mount Vernon school board trustee Lorna Kirwan, questioned another $600,000 in contracts to Just Inspire.
While Stephenson’s involvement in Just Inspire has still not been officially confirmed, he is also an employee of the school district earning, $157,500 as Director of business and grants.
In a statement on Oct. 27, Board of Education President Adriane Saunders and Superintendent Dr. Waveline Bennett-Conroy, write, “We believe that transparency is critical to the credibility of school district leadership and its ongoing relationship with members of the community. Recently, questions have been raised about the contractual procurement process and use of grant funding. These questions deserve answers, and not merely reassurances. While the State Education Department annually audits all aspects of grant funding usage– and these routine audits have not documented any meaningful irregularities– the Board of Education and Superintendent Bennett-Conroy believe that an objective review of the grant procurement process and related issues is necessary to confirm this status for our community. Therefore, the Board will immediately retain the professional services of outside experts who will review the past several years of transactional data and interview all relevant parties.”
But more than one week later, and there has been no information about the grants, or any answers to legitimate questions raised by Save Mount Vernon.
In a letter to the school board, McDonaugh writes, “If you are in possession of audits of the SIGs, please release them to [the] public without further delay. Or, provide us with a reason why you are not releasing these audits…. one would think that NYSED has audited the SIG grant money that flowed to Just Inspire and found no “meaningful irregularities”. Again, if that is the case release the audits. If it is not the case, clarify you statement.
In an email to the NYS Education Department, McDonough writes,
1) Did NYSED “audit all aspects” of the MV SIG grants that flowed to Just Inspire?
2) If NYSED did audit the MV SIG grants, can you please send me a copy of the audits or direct me to where I can get a copy?
3) If NYSED did not audit “all aspects of grant funding usage” as stated to the public by the Mount Vernon school board, can you clarify what type of audit (if any) NYSED did do? Was it a “desk audit” of self-reported SIG costs, for example?
Superintendent Dr. Waveline Bennett-Conroy issued a statement on 10/28,
“ESSA (Every Student Succeeds) grant funding comes from the New York State Education Department from funds disbursed by the federal government. Exhaustive documentation is required for both funding To be clear, all of this information is self-reported by the district, but in its review, we have never been cited by the State for any deficiencies or irregularities.”
McDonough responds to Bennett-Conroy with, “Here are my questions and concerns about the 10/28 statement by Dr. BC:
- In her role as Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement, it was Dr. BC who recommended millions of dollars in federal school improvement grant money flow to Just Inspire.
- The 10/28 statement says that “Exhaustive documentation is required for both funding applications and ‘desk monitoring reviews,’ which include items like confirming certification and licensing requirements for staff working in the programs; payroll documentation; policy and program fulfillment;” I have a few thoughts about this:
Why hasn’t the school board provided the public with a statement answering the following questions related to nepotism: a. What is the relationship between Dr. BC and Marlon Stephenson? It has been said that he is her son. If so, this raises very serious nepotism concerns. It has been established that Mr. Stephenson worked for Wellcore, but did he also work for Just Inspire and if so in what capacity and given what credentials? Did he or does he have an ownership interest in Just Inspire? Given that Dr. BC named him as our school districts’ Director of Business and Grants and given that in September Mr. Stephenson recommended SIG funds be subcontracted to Just Inspire, it seems wrong for the Board of Education not to disclose full details about Mr. Stephenson’s relationship to Just Inspire. To delay is to further erode public trust.” -
