That's the government school, with over a thousand students in the Toledo District, that made the news in November because it was operating without a principal. The Auditor-General has reviewed their finances and expenditures, and she is concerned about the use of public funds at the school for the period between May 2014, and October 2016.

So, why did the Auditor General carry out this audit of the high school? Well, according to the report, her office was informed of alleged abuse in relation to certain expenditures that the school's management was incurring. Someone passed the information about the school to the Auditor General's Office using "whistleblowing", which is a feature on their website that facilitates reporting or the sharing tips about suspected irregular activities at government institutions.

The report says that during this period under audit, approximately just over 2.23 million dollars in expenses were incurred in capital works, services, and equipment at the high school. In the Auditor General's opinion, the majority of the contracts were not tendered in compliance with the Finance and Audit Reform Act and the Belize Financial Orders. The majority of the contracts were never submitted to the Contractor General. The majority of the projects were awarded to current members of the high school's staff.

Responding to the Auditor General's inquiry about these expenses, the School's then principal, Dr. Simeon Coc, and chairman, Gregorio Chee, told the auditor that the school's Board reviewed all bids for the contracted work.

After thoroughly searching, the audit team found no documented proof to back up any of the claims of oversight by these two officials. The Auditor General's perspective, 19 contracts for various projects within that total expenditure was never referred to the Contractor General for his review.

The Audit also revealed that contracts totaling just over 1.377 million dollars were awarded to 6 staff members of the institution. Those included a 1.135 million construction contract which was awarded to Francisco Recinos, a teacher who taught Math, Religion, and Physics at the school. One of those contracts for IT supplies and services was also awarded to the then Vice-Principal of the school, Winston Lopez.

When the audit team inquired about the cause of this was done, the principal asserted that he was comfortable with the decision because he had first-hand knowledge of the work and services performed by these individuals. The Chairman of the School's Board was also of a similar opinion. Reportedly, none of the staffers were allowed to execute their responsibilities under these contracts during school.

Having reviewed all the details, the Auditor General says in her report that, quote, "It is our view that the awarding of contracts to staff members, especially those of significant value, should be discouraged, since it could result in possible insider knowledge, such as the available construction budget, that can result in staff members having an advantage over competitors and builders... public perception of unfairness in the awarding of contracts.. conflicts of interest with one's duties and responsibilities as a member of staff... [and] project delay or failure due to a lack of independent supervision." End quote.