What we know about Gear Up

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When I hear someone like Russ Janklow say that Noem is running a negative campaign against Jackley, you just kind of scratch your head. While I don’t agree with everything Noem has said in her campaign, pointing out the truth about the DCI coverup is not negative campaigning, it’s the truth. Why doesn’t Jackley bring up the millions in farm subsidies that Noem’s family has received over the years?

Much of the same could be said about his other scandals, like EB-5, the Mette Rape case or Gear Up.

Here’s what we know for sure about Gear Up;

• Barely any Native American students benefitted from Gear Up.

According to Michael Wyland of Nonprofit Quarterly,

“Disturbingly, while the GEAR UP program reported serving several thousand low-income, predominantly Native American students prepare for success in postsecondary education, not a single student receiving special education services was served during the 2005-2011 period. We now know the original grant application stressed equitable participation in program services and even documented the percentage of special education students in each of the two dozen schools to be served.”

• When Jackley was questioned about the missing safe at the Westerhuis’s house that could have important MCEC information in it, he said, “Jackley believes it was most likely destroyed in the fire, but could have been stolen or moved somewhere else by Scott Westerhuis.”

• Gear Up started in 2005, the GEAR UP grant did not have an effective system of collecting data or consistently tracking performance. South Dakotans simply do not know, through data, whether the millions of dollars of grant funds helped Native American students prepare for or succeed in college.

• Whatever happened to the missing millions in consulting fees?

When will Jackley really investigate this mess? If ever? Just another scandal he continues to sweep under the rug. Hopefully he will have more time on his hands after June 5th.

Vermillion, Gear Up and Kolaches

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First off, a big shout out to Frank Kloucek for the excellent Kolaches, and the Old Lumber Company in Vermillion for the drinks and food.

CMB (Cameraman Bruce) and I headed to Vermillion last night to see the Folklore of the Gear-Up Wall for ourselves and the explanation of ‘what might have happened’ by the USD senior poli-sci class. While the students were NOT there, their gracious professor worked us through the yarn.

Hopefully we can edit this video to make everyone understand, somehow.

Someone needs to tell Representative Schoenfish there is no ‘I’ in Teamwork

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I have done a lot of things for SD, except answer key questions about the GearUp program

Kyle wants you to know all the great things HE did in Pierre this last year (notice he leaves out his stellar performance as GearUp’s auditor);

I have been appointed to the workforce housing summer study by the legislative executive board. My experience as a CPA working on muncipal audits and housing/rental components of income taxes will be beneficial on the committee.

Maybe these are some things that Kyle should be answering;

1)How long has Schoenfish and Company conducted audits of Mid-Central Educational Cooperative?

2)How many years were you Kyle Schoenfish personally involved with doing the audits and what years where they?

3)What was your response Kyle as an auditor to the discrepancies in the monthly balances shown in Mid-Central’s financial reports from June 2011 through March 2014?

4)What other irregularities did your audits find in Mid-Central’s finances that might be related to the improper use of funds that has led to criminal charges for Mid-Central personnel?

5)When did you first become aware or suspect in your audits of businesses associated with the  Westerhuis’s of what SD Attorney General has described as misappropriating “at least” $1.2 Million from the state and federally funded GEAR UP program?

6)When, to whom, and how did you report these $1.2 misappropriations?

7)When did you first become aware or suspect what SD Attorney General describes as 17 illegal secret contracts let by Dan Guericke, worth $3.8 million, that were not lawfully approved? 

8)When, to whom, and how did you report these $3.8 million worth of illegal contracts?

9)When did you first become aware or suspect what SD Attorney General reports was evidence in the Gear Up  financial records of over $300,000 of “…misuse, or misapplication of monies designated for Native Americans and their education.” By Stacy Phelps, Dan Guericke, and Stephanie Hubers? 

10)When, to whom, and how did you report $300,000 of “…misuse, or misapplication of monies designated for Native Americans and their education?”

Where was the oversight of Gear Up from the state, the education dept, the Feds and the auditor Schoenfish?

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If you look at the audit, you begin to scratch your head;

A new audit report shows that a now-dead couple who helped administer South Dakota’s GEAR UP college-readiness program made unauthorized withdrawals totaling more than $7.8 million from the Platte-based educational cooperative where they worked.

The Department of Legislative Audit report released Friday says much of the money was returned, but roughly $1.4 million remained missing after their deaths in 2015.

How could all of the state organizations and independent auditor miss this especially since it was apparent for years that NONE of the kids were going to college? If they think the only ones involved are the three clowns that are still alive from Mid Central and Scott Westerhuis and his wife, they are sadly mistaken. I hope when this goes to trial they spill the beans and name everyone involved in this scam, including the State Department of Education and Kyle Schoenfish, the auditor. You would honestly have to be the worst accountant on the planet to not catch this much missing and misappropriated money or you were bribed. Both may be true.