Consultants Overbill Racine Schools

DANI McCLAIN and CARY SPIVAK:

The consultants hired to slash costs and boost revenue for the Racine Unified School District overbilled the cash-strapped district by about $125,000, a review of district records shows.
That overpayment alone would have been more than enough to pay the annual salary of a staff budget director who would be charged with finding the same type of savings that the consulting group now wants over $1 million for, according to a Journal Sentinel review of how other school districts in the state operate.
“I would say that every business manager is very cognizant of these areas,” said Erik Kass, business manager at the Waukesha School District, when told of the savings claimed at Racine Unified by the Public Business Consulting Group.
Still, it appears the consulting firm will keep its job running the business office of Racine Unified, the fourth-largest school district in the state.