DISTRICT SET TO REVIEW ANDERSEN CONTRACTS.Byline: - Sonia Giordani Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. officials said Friday that they plan to review more than $1.5 million in district contracts with Arthur Andersen For the U.S. Supreme Court case commonly known as Arthur Andersen, see . Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms (the other four are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG), performing in the wake of the accounting giant's indictment on charges of obstruction of justice A criminal offense that involves interference, through words or actions, with the proper operations of a court or officers of the court. The integrity of the judicial system depends on the participants' acting honestly and without fear of reprisals. related to the Enron collapse. Andersen has been suspended from federal government work amid allegations that it destroyed thousands of documents related to the Enron scandal The Enron scandal was a financial scandal that was revealed in late 2001. After a series of revelations involving irregular accounting procedures bordering on fraud, perpetrated throughout the 1990s, involving Enron and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen, it stood at the verge of . Food giant Sara Lee, Delta Air Lines and Federal Express are among major corporations that have fired the firm. But LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) officials said they plan no immediate action. ``We will follow the situation closely and, if warranted, we will take some form of action against them under the district's debarment de·bar tr.v. de·barred, de·bar·ring, de·bars 1. To exclude or shut out; bar. 2. To forbid, hinder, or prevent. policy,'' said LAUSD General Counsel Hal Kwalwasser. The district adopted a debarment policy in October to ensure that departments do not contract with companies with poor track records. The policy states, ``In the event that the state or federal prosecutor's office issues an indictment'' the board could disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. a contractor from work with the district. ``The suspension may include work or contracts in progress,'' the policy states, adding that the board also can lift a suspension if it finds no reasonable ground to proceed with debarment. District officials said they have a long-standing relationship with Andersen and are pleased with the firm's work, which has included audits and consulting services. Edwin Van Ginkel, a partner with Andersen's Los Angeles office and a consultant to the LAUSD's Facilities Division, said he intends to submit a letter to the school board and district staff notifying them of the indictment and stating the firm's position. ``We absolutely view the indictment as an abuse of the prosecution's discretion and we firmly oppose it and deny the allegation that the firm obstructed justice,'' he said. Andersen has provided more than $1.5 million in consulting services this year to the Facilities Division - largely in real estate acquisition and appraisal procedures and in project management advice related to the district's massive new construction program, which aims to build 83 new schools in the next four years. The firm also has a $170,000 contract with the LAUSD Inspector General's Office, Van Ginkel said. |
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