Amarillo College regents question auditors, weigh legal steps in financial probe

Описание: Amarillo College leaders faced pointed questions during Tuesday’s board meeting as regents reviewed the results of a four-month financial investigation and began discussing preventive steps and possible legal action.

The Board of Regents questioned accounting firm Weaver for about an hour about its audit findings. Amarillo College President Dr. Jamelle Conner said the college has already put immediate controls in place, including closer monitoring of cash flow and spending.

“Weekly to see where we're sitting with our cash flows. I also get a report that shows every expenditure that we've had over $5,000, so I could be monitoring that. And then another one that we've put into place is that when it comes to CDs, there are two signatures now that the bank takes before they would make any changes or do anything with our CDs,” Conner said.

The meeting also revisited personnel changes tied to the investigation. In October, Vice President of Business Affairs Chris Sharp was placed on administrative leave. In November, he resigned. ABC 7 News asked whether the college would have fired Sharp if he had not resigned.

Conner said, “It's hard to say just because of how everything transpired and actually happened that way. "

Conner said she is updating the vice president of business affairs' job description to begin a search for a replacement.

“But I am working right now on the Vice President of Business Affairs job description and updating that so we can get that put out and I can start that search for our new Vice President of Business Affairs,” she said.

Regents learned that the bonds master plan program manager, Danny K. Smith, was paid $760,000 more than what the board originally approved. Auditors also said there had been limited financial reporting to the board since April 2022.


ABC 7 News asked how issues like that could go unnoticed for years. Conner pointed to expectations for transparency in high-level financial roles.

“I think the hard part with that is that there is a certain expectation, especially when you're talking about someone in such a high level of fiduciary responsibility, to be open and transparent and honest with what's being reported,” she said.

After Tuesday’s findings, the college responded to Sharp’s demand for an apology, which had been sent in a statement exclusively to ABC 7 News.

Board Chairman Jay Barrett said, “Well, there is no response to that. What you saw tonight was very clear and compelling evidence that there were things that happened without board authority, without proper board authority.”

Barrett said auditors told the board there is a policy requiring approval for certain actions.

“Our auditor said there is a policy in place that says we need to approve things that were approved by our former VP,” he said.

Conner said the audit presentation highlighted failures to follow procedures and standards.

“I think as was shared tonight with the auditors that came in and presented their report, that when you look at the lack of procedures that were followed and the standards that we really set for our institution and those that work for our institution, that I think all of that bore that out,” she said.

Barrett said the college is planning a special session for next week to consider pursuing legal action.

“We don't know if that's something that we should do, but we're definitely going to discuss that and ask our legal counsel for his direction about where we should go,” he said.

For more news from the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and Eastern New Mexico, visit www.ABC7Amarillo.com. You can also download our app, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.