In addition, Andrey Bundley, a former principal of Walbrook High School and mayoral candidate, was suspended by the city schools in 2004 and then reassigned after an audit showed that 93 of his students had received diplomas without completing the requirements for graduation. Other students were promoted to the next grade without having enough credits.
Brice gave a tour last week of a floor of the Professional Development Center on Northern Parkway, where the records are stored, to prove, he said, that they are now in order. He pointed out that the door to the floor is locked and that filing cabinets are now being stored in old classrooms. A worker was installing locks Wednesday on classroom doors.
The report noted that the filing cabinets in which the records are kept are not fireproof, but Brice said they are stored in a brick building where the chance of fire is small.
Brice said all of the paper records will be put into digital form by the end of this school year and that his goal is to be able to fill a request for a record within 24 hours. It now takes about five days, he said. About 75 to 100 requests for transcripts come in from the public every weekday. In the past, graduates have described more than a month of delays in securing a job offer while they waited for the school system to find the records of their graduation.
The audit was conducted by E. Darrell Hope, director of the school system's office of internal audits, who reports to the city school board, not Alonso. Hope said his office will follow up this school year to see whether the school system has fulfilled its promises to resolve the problems. He declined to release a final report that his office had done after input from school system staff.
Although the letter and initial report were copied to members of the school board's finance and audit committee, several members said they had not seen or read it.
Kalman "Buzzy" Hettleman, who headed the board's finance committee until June 30, said he had not seen the report. Neither had Brian Morris, the school board president, who is now in charge of the finance and audit committee. School board member James Campbell said he would ask to see the audit.
