“This puts in place a new governance structure, new reporting requirements, and new requirements for transparency that are designed to prevent the kind of abuses that took place with Merrimack,’’ said state Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch, a Wellesley Democrat and the House chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Education.
The bill approved yesterday, a version of which legislators expect Governor Deval Patrick to sign, would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to name a voting member to each of the collaborative’s board of directors. It would also require all collaboratives to undergo an annual financial audit.
In a move aimed directly at abuses allegedly uncovered at the Merrimack collaborative, the legislation would bar any employee of an educational collaborative from working at a related nonprofit or for-profit organization. It would also prohibit collaborative board members and their executive directors from simultaneously serving as board members, executive directors, or employees of related nonprofit or for-profit groups.
Last June, Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan accused Barranco of transferring $11.5 million from the Merrimack collaborative to a nonprofit that he controlled, the Chelmsford-based Merrimack Education Center, and using the money for excessive salaries and perks, including $50,000 in personal expenses and Kentucky Derby tickets.
In addition, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump found evidence that the Merrimack collaborative misspent more than $30 million in public funds. And she found a pattern of lax accounting practices and questionable compensation at other collaboratives.
The collaboratives are consortiums of local school districts that band together to reduce the cost of educating students with mental, physical, medical, and behavioral disabilities.
In August, the Globe reported that federal prosecutors are conducting a wide-ranging inquiry into spending and accounting practices at the Merrimack collaborative.
