April 9, 2017 | By Sharon Noguchi | MercuryNews.com

     The audit, requested by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, comes amid ongoing parent complaints that Alum Rock schools lack basic amenities, including heating, air-conditioning and functioning bathrooms, and that long-promised construction projects haven't materialized. The district attorney's fraud unit is also looking into Alum Rock, according to the county office of education. Several sources said they have been interviewed by the district attorney's investigators. The prosecutor's office, however, would neither confirm nor deny those reports.

     In December, auditors from the state's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team were summoned to Alum Rock by county Office of Education Superintendent Jon Gundry, who received documents from an anonymous source highlighting questionable bills submitted by the contractor.

     Since 2013, documents show, the district has paid nearly $3.3 million to the Southern California-based Del Terra Group to manage renovation and new construction financed by two voter-approved bonds. Only a portion of those payments - $329,000 for oversight of construction that has yet to begin at four schools - was specifically flagged as suspicious, but reports done for Alum Rock Superintendent Hilaria Bauer highlighted problems ranging from missed deadlines to allegations of double-billing. ...

     FCMAT, the state auditing agency known by its initials, normally investigates school district personnel and officials, but in this case, Gundry said, it also wanted to examine Alum Rock's fiscal health, its bond program, decision-making "and whether they are getting bad deals from contractors."...

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