The New York State Comptroller’s office determined through an audit that the Henry Viscardi School (HVS) in Albertson has overcharged New York State for reimbursements.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said managers at the Long Island school charged the state $835,074 for “unreasonable and unnecessary expenses,” including the cost of a leased car for Edmond Cortez, president of school’s parent company, Abilities! For the two years ending June 30, 2009, HVS claimed a total of $27.8 million in reimbursable expenses.
“Educating disabled students is a noble cause but it appears the leadership team at Abilities! took advantage of the state's taxpayers," DiNapoli said. “I'm pleased that the State Education Department has accepted our findings and is putting an end to this kind of abuse.”
HVS is one of eleven city schools for children who are who are deaf, blind and physically challenged, which Governor Andrew Cuomo recently threatened to cut direct state funding for. That decision has since been reversed.
The school serves 185 students with disabilities from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The Education Department said it will recover the funds by deducting the discrepancies from future payments to the school.
The questionable expenses include $280,000 in salary and fringe benefits for Cortez and his secretary, even though HVS has its own leadership team. Abilities! also charged the state $88,275 in bonus money for its president and chief financial officer.
Abilities! charged the state $69,600 for legal expenses but only $49,000 pertained to the school. More than $18,000 for Cortez’s Lexus and the expenses for another staff member’s vehicle were also cited as inappropriate reimbursements.
The release of this audit follows a series of stories uncovering questionable financial conduct at the school.
Cortez announced in April 2010 that he planned to retire eighteen months later. It was later reported that the state comptroller had been conducting an audit of the school, which included Cortez’s compensation package.
In July it was reported that Cortez had a $1.86 million compensation package including pension contributions. This was after making staff cuts in 2008, which he attributed to the economic downturn.
“Our first priority is to provide an extraordinary education to the severely disabled students served by the school,” said Abilities spokesperson Katherine Heaviside. “Although we disagree with many of the conclusions in the final audit report and look forward to resolving the issues we remain committed to providing our students with the vital educational services they require and deserve.”
Abilities! serves more than 2,500 people with disabilities annually with a technology center, research and evaluation center, and training and placement services for the school.
This article was published in the May 2011 issue of Able News.
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