Report details gifts to HISD school officials
HOUSTON
The law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, in a recently released memo,
outlined the findings of its investigation into allegations of
gift-giving that cost taxpayers an $850,000 fine and froze access
to the program for a year, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.
A federal investigation found that that technology vendors
trying to get business in the state's largest school district gave
the perks over several years.
The U.S. Department of Justice accused the district of violating
competitive-bidding rules, saying the gifts could influence who got
contracts. In 2006, the department froze the district's access to
federal funding through the so-called E-rate technology program.
Houston Superintendent Terry Grier settled the case with the
federal government in March. As part of the deal, the district paid
fines of $850,000 and hired a compliance officer to monitor the
E-rate program.
Richard Patton, the district's E-rate compliance officer, said
the district has tightened its policies, forbidding employees from
accepting any gifts from E-rate vendors. They are also required to
report any offers.
"There is no tolerance," Patton said.
Patton said the district's current application for $89 million
in E-rate funding is pending.
The federal E-rate program, funded by fees from telephone users,
allows schools that serve mostly low-income children to apply for
funding for discounted hardware and Internet access.
No Houston school district employees have faced criminal charges
over the allegations. But a similar scheme in the Dallas school
district resulted in criminal convictions of it's former technology
chief, Ruben Bohuchot, and a Houston-based business owner, Frankie
Wong.
Evidence showed that Bohuchot had shared inside information to
help Wong's company, Micro Systems Engineering, get E-rate
contracts in the Dallas school district. Both are now in federal
prison on bribery and money-laundering charges.
A Justice Department spokesman told the newspaper he could not
comment on the Houston school district investigation.
The Houston school district used to have multimillion-dollar
contracts with Wong's company and with another computer reseller,
Analytical Computer Services, which is run by one of Wong's
business associates, Frank Trifilio.
In all, the Houston school district paid Wong's business $26
million. Analytical Computer Services received $104 million in
Houston school district contracts.
Former Houston Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, who retired
last year, watched three Rockets playoff games from a suite
belonging to Analytical Computer Services. The next month, he sent
a $300 check to Trifilio as reimbursement, according to the memo
from the school district's lawyers.
Saavedra said in an interview that he was invited to the games
by "a trustee or some trustees," whose names he said he could not
remember. Once there, he said it was obvious it was a vendor's
suite, so he wrote Trifilio a check to reimburse him for the
tickets.
The memo said Analytical Computer Services paid for cell phones
for 26 school district employees for five years, until the
district's chief financial officer stopped the practice in 2007.
The memo said the Houston district's top technology official,
William "Bill" Edwards, reported to the district's inspector
general that he and a co-worker, Laura Palmer, accepted Wong's
invitation to go fishing on his $305,000 yacht at least once
between January 2005 and December 2008.
For Palmer's birthday, one of Wong's employees bought dinner for
about 15 people at an expensive restaurant.
Edwards, the assistant superintendent of technology, resigned in
2005. District records show that Palmer was promoted to the spot in
2006 and retired the next year.
Trifilio has not been charged with wrongdoing. He did not
immediately respond to a phone message Monday from The Associated
Press seeking comment.
The Chronicle reported that none of the school district
employees could be reached for comment.
The AP could not find numbers for Palmer or Edwards.
Four current and former Houston school board members received
several thousand dollars each in campaign contributions from Wong,
Trifilio or another business associate of Wong's. The trustees all
have said that the campaign donations did not influence their votes
on contracts.