The Abington school board took less than a minute to borrow $3 million last week, voting without discussion to borrow the money from CoreStates Capital Markets Group.
"And not a person here knows what it's for," grumbled Joseph Polya, a persistent board critic who attended the Tuesday night meeting.
Actually, the board spelled out its plans for the loan as far back as June. It will go for repairs and improvements throughout the district, including
purchase of computers, buses and windows, and for repairs to roofs, tennis courts and sidewalks.
But details about the loan, estimated to cost the school system $1,080,000 over its 10-year life, were not distributed to the public with other agenda information on Tuesday.
Superintendent Louis Herbert said afterward that citizens could get the information simply by asking for it.
Usually that information is not included in the public agenda packets
because it's too lengthy, specialized or dull, he said.
Polya thought differently.
In a letter Polya gave to board president Melvin McMaster, he cited state laws governing expenditure of public funds and requested copies of banking documents related to the loan.
"The egregious record of mismanagement and smoke and mirrors of your 1984, 1985 and 1986 borrowing must be evident to you," the letter said. ''Undeniably, there has been overspending, juggling of funds and a shabby attempt to shroud the entire process with secrecy."
