Legislators to withhold funds from Morgan State University

“This allows them to move forward with the continuing renovations, but it would be contingent on them meeting requirements,” said Del. John Bohanan, D-St. Mary’s, chairman of the House education subcommittee.

Lawmakers agreed to provide the funding for planning the $80 million business school in the fiscal 2009 budget. But the school would have to hire a management consultant to evaluate and make recommendations about its construction process and the deficiencies state auditors found.

Bohanan estimated the review could take six to 12 months.

“Are [Morgan officials] enamored with the compromise? No,” he said. “But I would hope in the end they find it to be reasonable.”

Some legislators originally wanted to strip Morgan of its construction autonomy from the Department of General Services after a state audit faulted the historically black school for spending $3 million slated for an academic hall on an athletic field and phone system without getting state approval.

State auditors also questioned the overpaying of employees and contractors and the splitting of contracts to amounts of less than $500,000 to avoid the scrutiny of the Board of Public Works.

Morgan officials said in earlier interviews that any delay in the disbursement of construction funding would hold up the progress the school has made in upgrading its campus.

“Anything that keeps the university from progressing is a concern,” said Abraham Moore, Morgan’s vice president for finance.

Moore did not return an e-mail requesting comment, and a school spokesman did not immediately return phone calls.

Morgan officials still dispute some of the auditors’ findings but have been reluctant to elaborate because of the state attorney general’s investigation into whether school officials’ actions were criminal.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com