ONLY ON 3: Parent questions NHC school board bidding policy

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– A New Hanover County parent is upset with how the the school system is handing his tax dollars.

Specifically, he questions how the district awards bids for work. Last fall the New Hanover County School District started a bidding process for lawn companies to take care of their athletic fields. Parent Chad O'Shields says the district violated a bidding policy and state law using taxpayer money.

"Part of the specification was waived for one vendor," O'Shields said.

The policy says New Hanover County Schools will not consider any additional terms and conditions submitted with a bidder response. The district accepted a bid from TruGreen after the company acknowledged in an e-mail that it did not have a certain type of expensive mower that was requested in the district's contract.

"When one bidder is bidding on $50,000 worth of equipment and the other bidder doesn't have to include that, yeah, that bidder is going to be less," O'Shields said.

The school board chairman Don Hayes says they did nothing wrong.

"In the process of which there is flexibility, there was a savings based upon that from that committee of roughly $300,000, about $295,000 dollars for the taxpayer," Hayes said.

O'Shields says that may save money now.

"but when the system gets corrupted," O'Shields said.

He says that leads to bigger things.

"What happened is not fair," O'Shields said. "Are these same type situations going on with other bids?"

As a parent and a taxpayer, O'Shields says any public process should be fair.

"I want that money spent properly," O'Shields said.

Hayes says after meeting with O'Shields he will discuss the policy with the school board.