Garfield school business aide fired -- Wurms' term was dogged by controversy
By GIADA CARDOLETTI, SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Date: 06-17-2003, Tuesday
Section: LOCAL
GARFIELD - The tumultuous career of Marcel Wurms as school district business administrator has ended.
In a letter mailed to Wurms early last week, Superintendent Nicholas Perrapato informed the business administrator that his services would no longer be required.
Wurms was fired effective June 4, when he filed for a paid, 10-day disability leave after injuring his knee on school time, Perrapato confirmed Monday.
"It didn't seem in the best interest of the schools to retain his services," said Perrapato, who terminated Wurms even though his appointment as business administrator would have expired June 30.
Wurms will continue to get paid, based on his $70,833-a-year salary, through June 30, because the district owes him some sick and vacation time, Perrapato said.
Wurms did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
The board did not vote to terminate Wurms' position.
Wurms' termination culminates a colorful career, marred by public criticism.
On one occasion last November, the state team overseeing the district's finances publicly chastised Wurms for failing to complete a financial document because he "had taken vacation time to go fishing." Wurms has denied the charge.
Just last week, while on disability leave because of a knee injury incurred during business hours, Wurms nevertheless appeared in Lodi in his role as attorney for the Planning Board. On that occasion, Wurms said he had agreed to attend the meeting as a favor to the Planning Board and with the clear understanding that the meeting would be short, because his doctor had advised him against sitting for a long period of time. The meeting lasted just over an hour.
State officials repeatedly recommended against Wurms' reappointment, saying he was incapable of performing his duties.
"Mr. Wurms has not demonstrated his competence in the position," wrote Aaron Graham, Bergen County superintendent of schools, in a letter to the school board April 1.
Recently, the state supervisory team recommended that the district pay its auditing firm $20,000 to conduct a cash flow analysis, review interim financial statements, and make budget projections - all part of Wurms' normal responsibilities.
Garfield is one of 30 poor urban districts in New Jersey that receive so-called Abbott funding from the state to bring them up to the level of wealthier suburban towns. When Wurms was hired, local watchdogs criticized his appointment, saying he lacked the experience of a district business administrator and had landed the job over more qualified candidates because of his previous role as a school board member. Wurms has denied that charge.
Perrapato, who defended Wurms while others took shots at his performance, sounded disappointed Monday.
"I think that if Mr. Wurms had applied himself a little bit more, he could have achieved more," he said.
Wurms was appointed to the administrator position in September. At that time, the state supervisory team had taken the reins of the district's finances, after the district had amassed a $700,000 deficit.
Wurms' position will remain vacant until the district finds a suitable replacement, Perrapato said. The position has been posted and candidates will be interviewed soon, he said. Until then, Perrapato and Assistant Schools Superintendent Raymond Hryczyk will alternate in handling the district's financial duties.
“Garfield pays firm to do official's work”
Garfield pays firm to do official's work -- State explains why schools spent $21,500
By GIADA CARDOLETTI, SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Date: 05-18-2003, Sunday
GARFIELD - Marcel Wurms, the school district business administrator, is paid an annual salary of $70,833. But this year, he will cost the district $92,333 because he's still learning how to do his job.
The Board of Education agreed to pay $21,500 to the Fair Lawn accounting firm of Lerch Vinci and Higgins, because Wurms was either incapable or unable to perform his job in a timely fashion, said Jim Turek, the state budget manager for the district.
As one of the 30 poorest urban districts in New Jersey, Garfield receives state Abbott funding to improve test scores and fill the educational gap with wealthier suburban towns.
Wurms, a former Garfield school board member, was appointed to the position in September. A state supervisory team took the reins of the district's finances after learning the district had amassed a $700,000 deficit from the previous administration.
He did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Wurms, who had no experience as a district budget administrator, was hired amid criticism from watchdogs who charged that he landed the job over more qualified candidates.
The board defended its decision, saying Wurms' familiarity with the district and his experience as an attorney and a certified public accountant made him the right choice. But Wurms' inexperience in dealing with the financial complexities of an Abbott district, compounded by the district's financial baggage, made for a worrisome combination, Turek said.
"The district had been in a deficit position the year before, and the district didn't have any board secretary reports," Turek said. "The business administrator [Wurms] was not familiar with how to prepare the reports."
Wurms also didn't fully know how to perform a cash flow analysis, review interim financial statements, and make budget projections. That's why in December, Turek recommended that the board pay Lerch Vinci and Higgins $10,000 to do the work.
Wurms would have needed to be tutored, Turek said. Watching the auditors at work would have provided him with a building block.
"I hoped these were the types of skills he would have acquired," Turek said.
But on May 6, the board was asked to pay another $10,000 to the auditing firm, because the tutorial had apparently not attained the desired goals.
Wurms needed additional help with the budget. And this time, Turek was unhappy.
"The first time I had to give him credit, because he had just started," he said. "But the second time he should have been able to do it."
On Tuesday, the school board paid the school auditing firm an additional $1,500 to fill out a loan application. Turek said he had to be certain the district met Friday's deadline.
"These are experts who know exactly what they are doing," he said, referring to the auditing firm.
Having the school auditing firm perform some of the district's financial work could have tainted its independent judgment and ability to perform the district's audit. But it didn't, Turek said.
School auditors are allowed to provide "management advisory services," but they generally don't perform managerial duties.
According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' code of conduct, the independence of an accounting firm is jeopardized if the firm is associated with the client as a "director, officer or employee or in any capacity equivalent to that of a member of management."
"Garfield had a problem," Turek said. "I am comfortable to say that it was not a conflict of interest."
Wurms' attorney, Frank Campbell of Red Bank, said he couldn't comment about details of his client's job performance because he wasn't familiar with them.
Wurms hired Campbell after state and county officials recommended that Wurms not be reappointed because he lacked the necessary experience. Wurms' appointment expires June 30.
Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Perrapato said he has not yet advertised the position but plans to do so by Monday.
Perrapato defended Wurms, saying blame for the district's financial problems rests in part with the state. The state budget reviewer gave the district orders and then never followed up his own directives, the superintendent said.
"I respect Mr. Wurms for finishing his job, given the circumstances and the pressure he is under," Perrapato said.
“Schools in Garfield urged to ax Wurms”
Schools in Garfield urged to ax Wurms -- Administrator said to be incompetent
By GIADA CARDOLETTI, SPECIAL To the record
Date: 04-15-2003, Tuesday
GARFIELD - Five months after state officials accused him of negligence, schools Business Administrator Marcel Wurms again is being criticized -- this time by a Bergen County education official who suggested he be replaced.
"Mr. Wurms has not demonstrated his competence in the position," wrote Aaron R. Graham, the county schools superintendent. "Therefore, it is my reluctant suggestion that he not be recommended by you for continued employment in the district."
The April 1 letter was sent to Nicholas Perrapato, superintendent of district schools.
In an interview, Wurms said Graham's letter was based on misinformation, and he had spoken to Graham about a retraction. Graham said he "wouldn't characterize anything as misinformation" but that he "would be willing to look at what evidence" Wurms has to present.
Graham's letter echoed the sentiment of the state Fiscal and Educational Intervention Team, which spent six months in Garfield to help correct the district's $700,000 budget deficit. In November, state officials accused Wurms, a former school board member, of "negligence of responsibility," noting, among other charges, that he had failed to complete a cash flow analysis because he "had taken vacation time to go fishing." Wurms has denied the charge.
In his letter, Graham said Wurms failed to submit the district's revised budget to the county by the March 17 deadline and unlawfully printed the budget in a newspaper the day it was presented to the public.
State law requires the budget be printed in a newspaper four days before the public hearing to allow residents time to review it.
Wurms said the district was forced to send the budget to the county on March 21 because the board did not approve it until March 20, as requested by the state. He also provided a letter in which the school insurance company apologized for having made an accounting mistake that made it appear as though Wurms had failed to pay the students' insurance.
Graham said Monday that he had not seen the insurance company's letter. However, he noted that Wurms' failure to submit the budget to the newspaper on time was unacceptable.
Wurms, whose annual salary is $70,833, was hired Sept. 1, 2002, in a board move that parent watchdogs said was tainted by cronyism. Wurms resigned from the board and stepped into the board secretary/business administrator position in May, while the search for a permanent administrator was under way. Parents argued that the board was saving the job for Wurms, a charge denied by board President Al Sipos.
Wurms, an attorney, said no other applicants who met the board's requirement had stepped forward and he was qualified because of his accounting degree. This was his first job as a school business administrator.
Wurms said Perrapato has since told him that he's satisfied with his job performance.
Contacted Monday, Sipos, who is running for reelection, said he had not seen Graham's letter and referred questions to the schools superintendent.
Perrapato did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Board candidate and parent watchdog Sheila Kelly said Graham's letter didn't surprise her.
"They knew that he was not qualified, and they passed up at least three very qualified business administrators to give the job to Marcel," she said. "He was put in that position without the school administrator certification.-... Now who is going to pay for his mistakes?"
Board candidate Peter Barno said Wurms should never have been hired.
"We needed someone experienced," he said. "This guy is an ex-board member. They gave him the job as a favor in return for another favor he did for somebody else."
Board member Heith Hicks declined to comment on the letter, noting that it is a personnel matter that "should be discussed by the board only."
"This is not something that I want to discuss with you or the public," Hicks said, adding that the decision rests with the Board of Education.
However, the news shocked board candidate Rosemarie Aloia.
"He was a former board member," she said. "The present board appointed him as board administrator and he can't meet the state standard? He has compromised our budget, our children's education, the standards in our school and Garfield's standing in the state. Do I need to say more?"
Board candidates Lou Anne Visotsky and Cosimo Miranda could not be reached for comment.
“State could seek ouster of Garfield school official -- Wurms says he' s being slandered'”
By CHRIS GALE, Special to The Record Date: 12-03-2002, Tuesday Section: LOCAL NEWS Edtion: All Editions.=.Late Edition. Early Edition
GARFIELD - The state-appointed team that runs the school district plans to recommend the expulsion of Business Administrator Marcel Wurms if he does not do his job better.
In a letter dated Nov. 22, the state Fiscal and Educational Intervention Team accused Wurms, a former school board member, of "negligence of responsibility."
The letter noted, among other things, that on Nov. 21, the day before it was sent to Wurms, Joyce Dabal, Wurms' secretary, "expressed concern over whether the district had sufficient cash on hand" to pay school employees and pay the bills approved during that week's Board of Education meeting.
Wurms, the letter said, had "taken vacation time to go fishing," and failed to finish a cash flow analysis suggested by the district's auditors.
Wurms said Dabal's concerns were unwarranted and that cash for the payroll was available.
"I think my name is being slandered," Wurms said. "I don't think they have a clue."
The Garfield school system is one of New Jersey's 30 low-income so- called Abbott districts, which means it gets additional state funding but also closer scrutiny by Trenton. Garfield is the only such district in Bergen County.
Wurms said the state team is attempting to attack the school board through the accusations aimed at him.
"They're very anti-nepotism. They're not happy with what they perceive Garfield's hiring practices to be," he said.
Members of the state team said they also learned that a $52,000 insurance premium had been left unpaid since Aug. 1, and the insurance agent had "threatened cancellation," according to the letter. The district could have been liable if a student suffered a sports injury, it said.
Wurms said the state officials learned of the problem through an erroneous letter sent by the insurance company. "There's a letter coming to them from the company explaining the error," he said.
State officials also accused Wurms of a "failure to approve purchase orders in a timely manner," and being absent to such an extent that "the burden of coping with a number of critical situations has fallen to your assistant."
The officials pointed out that Dabal does not have the legal responsibility or authority to act on many issues.
Wurms said he has been logging his hours and that his records show he has been absent only three days. He had the superintendent's permission to be gone the two days cited by the state team, and he was absent Sept. 13 while at a firefighters convention, he said.
On average, Wurms said, he works nine hours and 40 minutes per day.
Superintendent Nicholas Perrapato said the state team might have had trouble finding Wurms because he was visiting one of the system's 12 schools. But Wurms can work on his schedule and make himself more available to them if necessary, Perrapato said.
Wurms also said that if anything holds up purchase orders, it is state oversight.
The letter said it would be Wurms' "sole warning." If Wurms does not improve his performance immediately, the oversight team will "reluctantly ... recommend that the Commissioner remove you from your position."
Wurms is paid an annual salary of $70,833. He was officially hired Sept. 1, in a board move that parent watchdogs said was tainted by cronyism.
Wurms resigned from his board seat and stepped into the secretary/business administrator position in May, while the search for a permanent administrator was under way. Parents critical of the board alleged the board was saving the job for Wurms, a charge that was denied then by board President Al Sipos.
Wurms said no other applicants who met the board's requirement had stepped forward.
"The state is very upset I got the job," Wurms said.
Wurms said he is not related to any board members, but that state officials may be attempting to discredit his former colleagues on the board, who do have relatives in the school system.
A 1999 investigation into ethics violations and nepotism by the state Department of Education reported that 39 relatives of Garfield board members and administrators had been hired by the board.
“PAYBACK TIME FOR GARFIELD JUNKETEERS -- $1,600 ORDERED RETURNED TO SCHOOLS”
By DANIEL SFORZA, Staff Writer
Date: 08-07-1998, Friday
Past and present Garfield school board members and administrators
have been asked by the state to return more than $1,600 in disallowed
expenses -- including some for liquor and car washes -- incurred at the
1996 New Jersey School Boards Association convention.
Following a 17-month inquiry, the state Department of Education has
also recommended that the board implement procedures to prevent
excessive spending at future conventions.
"The present administration has adopted policies and built in
safeguards," Assistant Superintendent Ray Hryczyk said. "We're moving
on. We have a new central administration, and we're looking forward."
Twenty-six people, including Garfield trustees and administrators
and their spouses, spent more than $13,000 during the convention in
October 1996.
They spent the money doing such things as listening to Wayne
Newton sing "Danke Schoen" and chowing down at the Camelot restaurant at
Merv Griffin's Resorts Casino Hotel, where the group stayed during the
three-day junket.
As a result of the state's investigation, board members may no
longer be given money in advance for convention expenses, and
reimbursements will not be made for alcohol, in-room movies, shows, and
laundry.
Nor will trustees be allowed to wine and dine guests and spouses at
the taxpayers' expense any longer. And all board members must pay for
personal items before checking out of the convention hotel.
State education officials declined to comment on the investigation
or the report issued by the Division of Compliance.
The city's schools are among the state's poorest and rely heavily
on state funding to teach their more than 3,700 students. Garfield's
school budget will climb to more than $40 million for the coming year,
with about half of that coming from state aid.
A resolution adopting the new recommendations was approved by the
school board in July.
It is up to the district to collect the additional funds from the
former board members and administrators. Bills have been sent by the
district, officials said.
"We updated the guidelines so this never occurs again," trustee
Joseph Delaney said.
Six of the 16 officials who attended the convention, including
former members Pat Caruso and Genevieve Anastos, had hotel bills
exceeding $500 each.
Anastos owes an additional $50 for meals and $42 for gasoline and
tolls.
"I'm going to pay it and just get this headache all over with,"
she said. "I'm going to pay it in full, but write down my objections,
for the record."
Caruso must return $327 to the board, most of which is for meals
that were documented incorrectly, according to the state report.
"These figures are way off base and totally wrong," said Caruso,
who added that she will contest the charges. "I have my documentation,
and I know I don't owe a red dime to the Board of Education."
Anastos and Caruso lost their seats on the board following the
scandal.
Former district Administrator Anthony Barckett, who said he was
made a scapegoat by the trustees, had a hotel bill of $1,640 -- including
a higher-priced room at $250 a night for two nights, more than $1,000
for room service, and $16.99 for a souvenir sweatshirt. Barckett later
reimbursed the board $983 for the room service and the sweatshirt. He
resigned in February 1997.
The state is asking Barckett to return an additional $244 to the
board for disallowed expenses, including $152 in cab fare and $72 for
luggage handling. He could not be reached for comment.
Trustee Maria Scannella had a total hotel bill of $1,306, including
more than $600 for room service, $160 for a trip to the beauty salon,
$82.74 for the in-room bar, and $58.51 for 15 packs of cigars from the
gift shop. She later reimbursed the board for everything except the room
service.
She is being asked to return $27 to the board for disallowed
gasoline and tolls.
Additionally, trustee Salvatore Benanti must return $66 to the
board. The state report says receipts submitted under the heading "Misc.
Materials & Pamphlets" were really from a liquor store for the purchase
of alcoholic beverages. He also has to return $4 from a $10 claim for a
roll of Garden State Parkway tokens. Benanti did not return calls made
to his home and business.
Former trustee John Pinto owes $131. The state report says he
submitted a car wash receipt as a meal expense.
"If there's inconsistencies, then they have to be corrected," said
Pinto, who said he would not contest the billing. "But for things like
tips, how do you keep records? I just want to end it."
Delaney owes $109 and is looking forward to turning the page.
"It's fair," he said. "I just want to put it to sleep. It was a
mistake made by myself. I'll pay it. No problem."
Trustee Marcel Wurms owes an additional $344, including money for
tips, Federal Express charges, and two rolls of parkway tokens. Former
Superintendent Thomas Cangialosi and former trustee Vincent Zangara have
been billed for $45 and $25, respectively
