Harford County Council approved a probe into the expenses paid by Harford County Public Schools during a 2024 trip to New Orleans that has become the center of controversy after Superintendent Sean Bulson reported a theft in his hotel room by an unknown woman to police during his visit.
The audit was requested by Council President and 2026 candidate for county executive, Patrick Vincenti, last week after a recording of Bulson’s 911 call to New Orleans Police was posted on social media. In the call, which Bulson made using the cellphone of Deputy Superintendent of Operations Eric Davis, Bulson reported that a woman he had invited into his hotel room “took everything” after he fell asleep around 2 a.m.
According to the County Auditor, Chrystal Brooks, the audit will analyze the trip’s expenses and the school system’s handling of Bulson’s report of his school-issued cellphone and laptop allegedly being stolen.
“We are going to confirm that the expenses related to the conference trip were appropriate, allowable and supported by receipts,” Brooks said during the Tuesday night meeting. “We will determine the impact of the HCPS equipment that was reported as missing and determine what steps were taken by HCPS to address the matter.”
The audit is similar to the investigation conducted by the Maryland Office of the Inspector General of Education that analyzed if there was a data breach because of the school’s devices going missing, and how Harford schools handled the situation.
According to the inspector general’s investigation report, the personal cellphone, Apple Watch, wallet, iPad and school-issued cellphone and laptop that Bulson reported stolen, weren’t actually stolen and were recovered in a safe in Bulson’s hotel room by hotel staff.
The inspector general’s report emphasized that its scope of the investigation focused on whether there was any fraud, waste or abuse taking place while school officials attended the conference in New Orleans.
The county’s audit of the trip is identical, but Vincenti declined to comment on the scope of the audit and what his goal of conducting the audit is amid the inspector general’s findings, citing that he would like the audit to be complete before he provides any comments on it.
Council members unanimously approved the commencement of the audit which Brooks said could be completed as soon as the end of the week.
Since the 911 call was posted online last week, Bulson and Davis have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The district’s Manager of Communications, Jillian Lader, was unable to say Tuesday when Bulson and Davis might return from leave and what their continued leave is contingent upon.
Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.
Leave A Comment