FEMA rejects $70 million of Joplin R-8 claims

The full extent of the overspending that took place during the C. J. Huff Administration is finally beginning to take shape.

An Associated Press investigation posted today says that FEMA officials have denied $70 million of reimbursement requests for Joplin R-8 building projects, including one last month.

Reporter David A. Lieb wrote, "The key issue is whether FEMA underestimated the cost to rebuild the schools or whether the district is stretching FEMA rules to try to grasp as much cash as possible for its improved facilities."

When the Turner Report submitted a Sunshine Law request earlier this year asking for documentation of correspondence between FEMA and the Joplin R-8 School District since the beginning of 2016, I was told that the paperwork would fill up numerous boxes and I would be charged an exorbitant amount not only for the copies, but also for all of the research and manpower that it would take to collect the documents and make sure I was not getting any I was not supposed to be receiving. A revised Sunshine Law request was made for copies of denial letters FEMA sent to the district over that time period.

One reason for all of the paperwork, according to the materials I received is that the district tried to overwhelm FEMA with hundreds of pages of documents that had little or nothing to do with the requests.

The FEMA denials presented a clear picture of deadlines for submitting requests that were missed by more than a year, deliberate attempts to ignore agreements with the federal agency and build things the way district officials wanted them built and the hiring of an outside consultant for $3 million on a no-bid contract, an arrangement that continued by allowing the consultant to charge far more than the contractual amount.

The Turner Report investigation also showed that R-8 officials asked FEMA to reimburse the district $44,000 for the planning of work that was never done at Emerson Elementary.

An audio recording revealed that C. J. Huff was already planning to bypass the original arrangement with FEMA when it came to construction of the new schools and Huff acknowledged that the federal agency would not cover any costs except for those that would restore the schools to cover the same area they covered prior to the tornado.

From the May 1, 2017 Turner Report:

During a February 2012 meeting with faculty at East Middle School, former Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff explained the upcoming $62 million bond issue, as well as the way FEMA funding worked.

Though the new East Middle School would be bigger than the one that was destroyed in the May 22, 2011 tornado, FEMA would only pay for the cost of rebuilding East the way it was.

"Just that square footage," Huff said. "Not the additional square footage. They won't pay for an upgrade, I don't think, unless we do some arm-twisting." (Note: Huff's comments are featured in the podcast below.)

The efforts at arm twisting on the East project, Joplin High School and the other new buildings was done late in nearly every instance and was done after the construction work had already been completed.

Though the district continues to file appeals at different levels of FEMA, the odds of success are remote. An Associated Press analysis indicates that FEMA denies two-thirds of final appeals.