Press Release  Audit Calls for Massachusetts School Building Authority to Document Policies and Procedures Utilized to Prioritize Statements of Interest Submitted by School Districts for Grant funding.

Boston — Today, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump released an audit of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) which reviewed the processes by which grants are made to school districts though the Core Program and Accelerated Repair Program. It found that while there were evaluative processes, there were not specific policies that guided final grant determinations. The audit recommends that MSBA develop written policies and procedures for staff members to follow when evaluating and prioritizing applications submitted by school districts, in an effort to enhance transparency of decision making.

“MSBA typically awards approximately $800 million on an annual basis for school facility repair, upgrade and replacement. Even so, the funding process is extremely competitive, and some districts are bound to be disappointed,” said Auditor Bump. “But all districts need to have confidence that decisions are being made fairly, without political influence, and are based on objective scoring or weighting of criteria. In short, there should be greater transparency.’’

Although MSBA provided an overview of the process used to evaluate SOIs, designed to prioritize grant funding to school districts with the most urgent need, there is no written policy in place explaining how to properly evaluate criteria or prioritize SOI rankings. The audit examined the time period of January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021.

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