Umesh Dalal Photo by Ash Daniel
After much delay, an audit of Richmond Public Schools is underway. "We finally got the data," says City Auditor Umesh Dalal, an occasional critic of the district's own internal audit function. Indeed, the schools auditor last completed a report more than eight months ago.
Dalal's office received the new School Board's audit request on the same night the panel took office in January. But it hasn't gone easy, confirms School Board 2nd District representative Kim Gray, who worked with Dalal.
"There's been a lot of resistance on the part of the administration in getting the information out in a timely manner," she says. That resistance melted in mid-April, according to Dalal and Gray. Neither suggested a link between renewed administration cooperation and Superintendent Yvonne Brandon's surprise retirement announcement.
Expect the first phase of the audit by the end of this month.
