Council members chide MCPS for response to IG

With fissures widening within the County Council and between the council and school board, Montgomery County legislators "chided MCPS officials for an initial response to the audit report that questioned the inspector general’s authority and then attacked his methodology but did not answer the substance of the findings," the Almanac reports.

"Councilmember Tom Perez asked [school board Vice President Sharon] Cox repeatedly whether the school system believes that the inspector general has the authority to audit it.

"She replied that the school system must adhere to county law but that state law provides the 'guidelines' with which the audit must comply.

"'I don’t know what that answer means,' Perez said."

Council President Charles Haughey dodged again, calling the county school system a "state agency" in an attempt to avoid accountability.

Haughey told Perez, "Because of our status as a state agency we have to be very careful about how we respond to you and your inspector general. . . . We need to measure the ways we do that."