![]() Smith told an outside attorney hired by the district to perform an internal investigation into possible conflicts that she sold her shares, but was unable to provide documentation supporting her claim.ĭuring her tenure at SUSD, Smith continued to sign off on financial documents related to PGPC. Smith owned an estimated 15 to 20 percent of the firm in early 2017. Smith had been hired by SUSD in February 2017, but did not immediately disclose her ownership of Professional Group Public Consulting (PGPC), a consulting company the district contracted with after Smith’s hiring. 23, the district’s chief financial officer, Laura Smith, resigned from her position, after the district released the results of an internal probe into the district’s procurements. KJZZ and the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting first reported on the procurement irregularities in December 2017, citing violations in the procurement timeline and showing administration officials with personal and business ties to vendors used by the district. The vote followed a five-hour executive session. On Wednesday evening, just hours ahead of the complaint’s filing, the school district’s governing board unanimously voted to put SUSD Superintendent Denise Birdwell on temporary paid administrative leave. Scottsdale Unified School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 23, pending “further discussion by the SUSD Governing Board.” SUSD administrators had already put the Hohokam Elementary School construction project on hold on Jan. Both actions violate procurement laws, the attorney general alleges. According to the filing, Robichaux also made phone calls to discuss the scoring of bids in advance of the selection committee’s choice of general contractors for the two schools. SUSD’s chosen architect, Brian Robichaux, who served on the contractor selection committee, was not a licensed architect at the time, as required by state procurement law. In the complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior court, the Attorney General claims the district violated procurement law because the committee that determined what company would lead the construction projects did not include a licensed architect and one of its members tried to unfairly influence the selection process. The Arizona Attorney General’s office filed a complaint Thursday against Scottsdale Unified School District asking a court prevent further construction on Hohokam and Cheyenne elementary schools, following multiple investigations into possible procurement and conflict of interest violations that have roiled the district’s administration. By Evan Wyloge, AZCIR, and Mariana Dale, KJZZ News | Feb.
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