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A Dublin resident says he warned school leaders for years about financial problems before a state audit revealed a nearly $13 million deficit.
DUBLIN, Ga. — A longtime Dublin resident says he and other concerned citizens repeatedly warned school district leaders about looming financial problems years before a state audit revealed a nearly $13 million deficit and potential misuse of public funds.
Michael Maffett, who works in insurance and finance, says he sent detailed financial analysis and nearly a dozen emails to Superintendent Fred Williams and school board members starting in 2022, warning that the district’s spending didn’t align with its size and revenue.
“They were not very good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Maffett said. “They just did not want to hear it, and we were sending emails, we were sending numbers, saying, ‘Hey, this just does not match up with the system the size of what we have here.'”
Maffett, a fourth-generation Dublin resident and Dublin High School graduate, said he and a group of citizens obtained financial information through open records requests and met with school officials multiple times to present their findings. He said their concerns were dismissed.
“They looked at us like we were crazy,” Maffett said. “They looked at us like we had all these motives that just did not exist. The motive was, ‘Hey, let’s fix this.'”
A recent state audit found “potential waste and abuse of public funds” in Dublin City Schools. The district is now facing a deficit estimated between $13 million and $15 million, according to the state report.
Maffett disputes claims from school officials that they were unaware of the financial crisis.
“It says, ‘Hey, we didn’t know people were lying to us,’ and that’s just not the case,” he said. “The information was right there in front of you.”
In a 2024 email to Williams, Maffett urged the district to develop a plan to cut spending and achieve financial stability without increasing costs to taxpayers. He said rising costs and mismanagement created the current crisis.
“Now, you’re in a situation where you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Maffett said.
The financial troubles date back to 2017, when Maffett’s family filed suit against Dublin City Schools for attempting to raise the millage rate above the state constitutional limit. The family won that legal battle after appeals reached the Georgia Supreme Court.
Maffett said the district received substantial COVID relief funds but failed to use them strategically to address underlying financial problems. By 2022 and 2023, he said, it was clear the district was heading toward financial collapse.
“You know, numbers are not emotional, but they cause a lot of emotions,” Maffett said.
He said mismanaged funds and lack of oversight are now impacting teachers and students most severely.
“The students and the teachers are the ones who are going to pay the ultimate price,” he said.
Maffett expressed doubt about the current school board’s ability to resolve the crisis, noting that newer members who weren’t present during the financial mismanagement are outnumbered by those who were.
“Hope is not a strategy,” he said. “We can go to bed every night and hope this happens and hope that happens, but you’ve got to wake up the next morning and actually do your best to make it happen.”
District leaders say they are working to meet state requirements and get back on track financially. The state has not yet announced what actions it may take regarding the district’s financial situation.