Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland has a new office of Integrity and Compliance.
But while school offices are in Upper Marlboro, the new I&C officer Frank Turner’s office is in Largo, an indication of the independence he intends to show as he digs into waste, fraud and abuse within a school system that’s been plagued by scandals and corruption.
Turner’s office was created by a state law pushed by Maryland Sen. Alonzo Washington and signed by Gov. Wes Moore. It provides Turner with the power to compel testimony and subpoena information.
“Over the past decade, unfortunately — and it’s no secret — our school system has been plagued by high profile cases of fraud, waste and abuse, financial mismanagement. Mismanagement causing the taxpayers millions of dollars here in Prince George’s County,” said Washington.
Turner took the job after decades spent investigating financial crimes at the federal level, first for the IRS, then the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the FBI. His new job is independent of the school administration or school board, which means they can’t fire him.
He plans to publish reports online that summarize his investigations. Anyone who reports something can do so by phone, email or snail mail, and they can do it anonymously.
“They’ll always be confidential,” promised Turner. “The law also talks about a duty to report, and it talks about addressing that at no time will retaliation for reporting to the Office of Integrity (and) Compliance be tolerated, and it would be against the law as well.”
Turner said some investigations have already begun, though it’s been a slow start as he builds up his small office. Back in March, he started noticing that former school board member David Murray was no longer showing up for meetings. Turner began pressing the board to enforce a law that required board members to show up to meetings in person.
In particular, a timeline published this week said Turner spent months pushing the board to take action. But Turner said he was new and still trying to staff up his office, which is about to hire a new investigator, and he was ignored.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything that happened,” said Turner.
That was one example of the resistance he said he’s encountered since taking the job this year.
“I know it’s something new. It’s a big change for the school board and for the school system, so I try to not take it to heart,” he said. “But that’s definitely something that I’m working through with them.”
Washington made clear it’s something the school system needs to get used to.
“This is law,” said Washington. “It’s in the best interest of our school system that our school board, our superintendent, accepts this office with open arms and works together to resolve these issues.”
Turner said he’s already been approached by someone on the county council about looking at school construction contracts.
“That’s never been looked at, or, hasn’t been looked at by internal audit,” said Turner. “Obviously, there’s a lot there of it. There’s been construction companies that I’ve heard from … I’m sure that I’ll be able to find some things.”
“His office will play a crucial role in ensuring all ethical and legal standards are upheld,” vowed County Council Chair Jolene Ivey, who held the press conference to introduce Turner.
She was joined by three other members of the council, including vice chair Sydney Harrison.
“This is one way to … make sure that we’re doing all that we can,” said Harrison. “That we’re dotting all our Is and crossing all our Ts, and ensuring the best possible outcome for 21st-century, state-of-the-art learning in Prince George’s County.”
Turner said any suspicions about inefficiencies or mismanagement in the school system can be reported over the phone at 301-952-6113, by email at [email protected], or by mail to the Wayne Curry Building in Largo, which means no one else involved with the school system will handle that correspondence.
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