The Board of Education for Albuquerque Public Schools unanimously approved a new procurement policy Wednesday just months after former state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton was accused of abusing the previous procedure by alledgedly embezzling millions of dollars from APS.
Stapleton worked as the district’s coordinator and director of Career and Technical Education, and allegedly used her position to funnel money from APS to businesses and entities with ties to herself, according to the indictment.
The district has followed state and federal guidelines, but its new, official policy specifically:
• Creates a new code of conduct for procurements.
• Establishes rules pertaining to competition, impartiality, transparency.
• Creates internal controls to curb “fraud, waste and abuse of APS resources.”
It also explicitly prohibits APS employees from participating in the procurement process if the employee or the employee’s immediate family members have a financial interest in obtaining a contract.
Sole-source contract at issue
Through her former position at APS, Stapleton oversaw a sole-source contract for vocational training that awarded more than $5 million over 15 years to a Washington, D.C.-based company, according to her indictment. About $950,000 from that contract was alledgedly diverted by Stapleton to companies and charities connected to her.
Stapleton was indicted by a grand jury in September on one count of racketeering, five counts of money laundering and separate counts of soliciting or receiving kickbacks, and having an unlawful interest in a public contract and other crimes.
Stapleton, speaking through her attorney, has denied any wrongdoing.
Though Stapleton was not mentioned by name during the meeting, board member Barbara Petersen alluded to the investigation during board member comments.
“There are mistakes that we should have caught,” she said. “But the most important thing is developing the policy and the training and the practice that makes sure (it is) if not impossible, is way harder (to violate),” she said.
The purpose of the new policy, APS Chief Financial Officer Tami Coleman said during the meeting, is to ensure that all APS employees and anyone involved with purchases know that there are procedures to be followed and to codify internal controls.
“It really falls mostly on the procurement office to really lock in those internal controls that are necessary for us to assure that we follow good processes and that we are treating taxpayer funds with the utmost respect as they deserve,” she said.
A first for APS
Prior to the adoption of the new policy, APS had no official procurement policy, board members were told.
Rennette Apodaca, APS procurement executive director, said that while APS had no official policy, it has been following state and federal procurement rules.
“A lot of this was already in place,” she said. “We’ve already been doing it.”
Under the new policy, APS employees involved in the procurement process will have to ensure that it is carried out on a competitive basis determined by the APS purchasing directive, and adhere to rules regarding efficient and effective procurement.
Central to the allegations against Stapleton is a sole-source contract awarded to Washington, D.C.-based Robotic Learning Management Systems LLC.
Stapleton alledgedly helped the company secure and maintain its contract, according to court records.
The new policy advises against sole-source contracts, stating that “exceptions to competition thresholds and processes shall be allowed in exceptional situations only as allowed by law and regulations.”
Competition exceptions must be approved by the procurement executive director and include “fact-based justifiable documentation,” according to the new policy.
