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D.C. Schools File Mess an Unenviable Sorting Task

Photo by Michel du Cille/The Washington Post
Photo by Michel du Cille/The Washington Post
WE ONCE THOUGHT that the most mind-numbing job in the world was that of a young journalist who had to rifle through thousands and thousands of Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 personal filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit to find hidden documents showing the Motor City's business downfalls. Then we read Theola Labbe's account of the massive filing job underway at D.C. Public Schools headquarters on North Capitol Street in The Post this morning. The D.C. government — which took control of the school system earlier this year — is trying to sort out the document mess left in the wake of years of organizational mismanagement. Writes Labbe:

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer is paying two contractors, Document Systems and DigiDoc, a total of $1.4 million to obtain equipment and pay workers to sort through 1,426 boxes of records and match orphaned documents with the proper employee files.
It's all part of an effort to get a complete account of the school's payroll, federal grants and Medicaid services, "a 'material weakness' in the District's overall financial health," according to an eye-opening audit. No pressure there ...

The process of sorting through and electronically scanning the contents of 1,426 boxes of records started a few weeks ago and the document reviewers are furiously trying to get as much done before the start of the new fiscal year in October. So far, 2 million documents have been scanned by 60 people working on two shifts. Ugh.

A few weeks back, the City Paper asked on its cover featuring new D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee: "Why Is This Woman Smiling?" We'd like to note that Rhee, in the photo above with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty touring the sorting operation on Tuesday, is grinning still. The first day of school awaits on Monday.

Also, in case you missed it — and you most likely did — there was a school board election in the District on Tuesday. The lone candidate for the District 1 seat was Mary Lord, who, naturally, coasted victory.

» "D.C. Blitzes School Records Mess" [WaPo]
» "What If They Threw a $250,000 Election and Nobody Voted?" [City Desk/City Paper]

Photo by Michel du Cille/The Washington Post

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COMMENTS (2)

  • it's about time that they started getting to the bottom of that mess. kudos to the new leadership for tackling something that the old superintendent left to rot.

    By IMGoph , Posted August 22, 2007 12:29 PM

  • Could I have been wrong about Fenty . . . ?

    By AUA , Posted August 22, 2007 1:21 PM
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