Audit firm begins investigation into Manatee Schools spending woes

At the Nov. 11 Manatee County School Board meeting, internal Auditor Ed Daugherty revealed progress and cooperation in Navigant's external forensic audit.

But the update shed little light on what the investigator's have learned so far and when the probe, which seeks to find out how the district ended up with a $3.4 million shortfall, will finish.

"The auditors have told me several times everybody has been very cooperative and open," Daugherty said. "They are not at the point of being able to tell us when they are going to be able to wrap this thing up."

Daugherty said Tim McGonegal, the former superintendent who resigned in the aftermath of the budget crisis, has been interviewed, as have other district employees.

In other business at the meeting—Board Chairman Harry Kinnan's last— the board gave an update of its superintendent search. Kinnan said that the board has nearly picked its Citizen's Advisory Committee. The group will meet with Wayne Blanton of the Florida School Boards Association on Dec. 5. Also, brochures advertising the position have been made and printed and an ad in Education Week magazine began running last week.