Newsradio 1020 KDKA Editorial: The Penn Hills School District

The Penn Hills School District allowed stunning financial mismanagement and illogical business decisions. That's what Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said when he released an audit of the district on Wednesday.

Over six years, Penn Hills went from almost a million dollar surplus to more than 18-million dollars in the hole. Long-term debt skyrocketed from 11-million dollars to a crushing 167-million.

DePasquale says Penn Hills school board and the former superintendent not only ignored bad financial practices, but borrowed millions for a building spree with no plan to repay the money. The audit might even trigger criminal charges.

But the Auditor General also says residents should pay more attention to their school boards and school board races. After all – it's the residents who pay for such mistakes with higher property taxes.

All Penn Hills can do now is clean up the mess. It's not too late for other school districts and the people who live there to learn from those mistakes.