State audit of school: Bach was in conflict

CLAYTON — Thousand Islands Central School District Board of Education member Stanley F. Bach Jr. failed to publicly disclose his conflict of interest in district contracts for services and goods, according to a state audit report released Tuesday.

The audit, conducted by the office of state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, found that the district paid three private corporations $85,000, collectively — for various goods and services from July 2006 to June 2008 — that were one-third owned by Mr. Bach, although he was not specifically named in the report.

According to the report, Mr. Bach had "a prohibited interest in the district's contracts with these corporations and had not publicly disclosed his interest in these contracts."

Mr. Bach said he resigned from the board last month because he didn't want to cause trouble for the district.

Mr. Bach, part-owner of Bach Environmental, Bach & Co. and Bach Retail Sales & Service Inc., Clayton, said he was well aware of his conflict of interest and never voted on issues that involved his companies.

"I always abstain if my business is involved," Mr. Bach said. "It's too hard not to have a conflict of interest in a small community."

Mr. Bach, who has been a board member for the past seven years, said the board approved the contracts simply because his companies had the lowest bid.

"My company saved the Thousand Islands School money in the long run because we did a better job at a lower price," he said.

Superintendent Joseph A. Menard said it was "unfortunate" that the district had to lose such a dedicated board member.

"In a small area like this, your options are not to be in business or not to be on the board," Mr. Menard said.

The state audit also found that while the board retained its authority to audit claims and authorize their payment, it did not audit claims properly.

In addition, the audit said, district management needs to adopt policies and procedures to improve its internal controls over cash receipts for post-employment health insurance benefits and to segregate duties over an account clerk's receipt of post-employment health insurance contributions.

Mr. Menard said the district has "already addressed a couple of concerns."