LPSS puts employees on leave amid vendor contract allegations

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) - The Lafayette Parish School System has confirmed that two employees are on administrative leave in connection to the possible mishandling of contracts with outside vendors.

LPSS Spokeswoman, Tracy Wirtz, told The Current the two unnamed employees were put on leave last week. That was the same week KLFY News 10 first reported that LPSS turned over its internal investigation into alleged forgeries of construction project quotes to the Lafayette Police Department for a criminal investigation. Wirtz told The Current she could not say whether the employees are on paid leave because she does not have access to their personnel files.

The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) has turned over its internal investigation related to the claim by the state that a contractor that worked on a Lafayette school was unlicensed, and that two other bids for the project were forged over to the Lafayette Police Department.

LPSS received a letter on May 21 from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC), outlining findings related to a recent complaint involving Bosco Oilfield Services.

LPSS shared the central issue addressed in the complaint involves whether Bosco Oilfield Services was properly licensed to perform the work at the time the contract was awarded. Additionally, the LSLBC letter revealed that several contractors who were listed as having submitted bids reported no recollection of submitting them.

“LPSS is treating this information seriously and is actively investigating the validity of the bid submissions to determine whether these bids were, in fact, submitted as documented.” the release said.

You can read the entire story from The Current by clicking here.