Audit Finds Bed-Stuy Charter Didn't Seek Bids on $1.7 Million in Construction Work

Pictured: Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School. Image via Google Maps.

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A Bed-Stuy charter school didn't sign written contracts for $1.5 million worth of construction work that took place between 2011 and 2014, an audit by city comptroller Scott Stringer has found.

But Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School, the subject of the audit, has challenged the number, as well as other key findings from the report.

According to Stringer, the $1.5 million was part of nearly $1.7 million in construction spending that New Beginnings, located at 82 Lewis Ave., couldn't prove that it bid out.

Because of its accounting practices, the school may have overspent for the work done, according to Stringer, adding that "there is no way to determine if taxpayer dollars were spent appropriately."

In addition, investigators found that New Beginnings couldn't account for $8,200 families sent in during the 2014 fiscal year for lunches, after-school programs and fundraising.

According to Stringer, the money "was not deposited into the school’s bank accounts and there was no evidence this money was then spent appropriately."

Auditors also found that at the end of the 2013 fiscal year, the school had set aside only a fraction of the money it was supposed to have on hand for potential emergency expenses.

Founded in 2010, New Beginnings had 328 elementary school students during the 2012-2013 school year, and 436 students in 2013-2014, after it added a sixth grade class, according to the comptroller's office.

In a June 7 letter, Joseph Sciame, the chairman of New Beginnings' board of directors, said the school had already adopted many of the city's recommendations for how to manage its finances, and noted that the alleged problems occurred under a previous executive director who was replaced in 2014.

The letter agreed with one of Stringer's key findings — that the school at times didn't have enough money on hand for potential legal expenses. But Sciame wrote that the problem had been addressed, and that the school had set aside sufficient funds since 2013.

The letter also challenged several of the comptroller's core assertions.

Regarding the construction contracts, Sciame wrote that New Beginnings chose a company called Gabriel Associates for its initial renovation work through a competitive bidding processes. The company became the school's preferred vendor, and was therefore awarded contracts for future work, in line with the school's spending policy.

Sciame also wrote that the $1.7 million spent was actually less than initial construction estimates of $1.9 million.

And regarding the $8,200 in allegedly missing funds, Sciame wrote that the school "implemented a new cash control system" which has "addressed the concerns identified in the report."

"We take great pride in the stellar education we have provided to our students since we opened our doors in 2010," Sciame wrote, adding that the audit "has been helpful to us in identifying important areas of focus as we continue to grow and improve our school in order to best serve our students and our community."