Summary of Examination Report

Except for instances of material noncompliance involving teachers, the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Exceptional (ESE Support Levels 4 and 5), and Vocational on-the-job-training (OJT) programs, and student transportation, as discussed below, the Lake County District School Board complied, in all material respects, with the requirements of the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) regarding the determination and reporting of full-time equivalent (FTE) students and the number of students transported for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004.

• Fifty-five of the 244 teachers in our sample did not meet applicable provisions of Florida Statutes or State Board of Education Rules regarding qualified instructional personnel; School Board approval of out-of-field teacher assignments; notification of parents regarding out-of-field teachers, or the earning of in-service training points in ESOL strategies.

• One hundred twenty-six of the 253 students in our ESOL student sample; 60 of the 165 students in our Exceptional student sample for ESE Support Levels 4 and 5; and 71 of the 94 OJT students in our Vocational sample were reported incorrectly or had records that were not properly and accurately prepared or were missing and could not be located. 

• Our general tests disclosed that the District’s reported number of students transported was overstated by 1,744 students due to various exceptions involving data compilation and ridership documentation.  Our detailed tests disclosed that 115 of the 675 students in our student sample, and an additional 168 non-sample students, had exceptions involving their reported ridership category or their eligibility for transportation funding.

Total instances of noncompliance related to FTE resulted in 120 findings.  The resulting audit adjustments to the District's reported, unweighted FTE totaled to a negative 5.6042, but have a potential impact on the District's weighted FTE of a negative 283.6116.  Total instances of noncompliance related to student transportation resulted in 7 findings and a net audit adjustment to the District’s reported student ridership of a negative 1,958 students.

Weighted FTE adjustments are presented in our report for illustrative purposes only; they do not take special program caps and allocation factors into account and are not intended to indicate the weighted FTE used to compute the dollar value of audit adjustments, which is the responsibility of the Department of Education (DOE).

However, after consideration is given to the caution expressed in the above paragraph, the gross dollar effect of our FTE audit adjustments may be roughly estimated by multiplying the net weighted FTE audit adjustment by the base student allocation amount.  For the Lake County District School Board, the gross dollar effect is a negative $1,029,519 (negative 283.6116 times $3,630.03).

We have not presented an estimate of the potential dollar effect of our student transportation audit adjustments because there is no equivalent method for making such an estimate.  The ultimate resolution of our FTE and student transportation audit adjustments and the computation of their financial impact is the responsibility of the DOE.

 Lake County District School Board

The Lake County District School Board was established pursuant to Sections 1001.30 and 1001.33, Florida Statutes, to provide public educational services for the residents of Lake County.  Those services are provided primarily to students attending kindergarten through high school, but also to adults seeking vocational-type training.  The District is part of the State system of public education under the general direction and control of the State Board of Education.  The geographic boundaries of the District are those of Lake County.  The governing body of the District is the District School Board, which is composed of five elected members.  The executive officer of the Board is the elected Superintendent of Schools.   For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004, the District operated 51 schools, reported 33,552.4020 unweighted, full-time equivalent (FTE) students, and received approximately $87.5 million in State FEFP funding for those FTE.

Florida Education Finance Program

Florida school districts receive State funding through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP).   To provide equalization of educational opportunity in Florida, the FEFP formula recognizes (1) varying local property tax bases, (2) varying program cost factors, (3) district cost differentials, and (4) differences in per student cost for equivalent educational programs due to sparsity and dispersion of student population.  The funding provided by FEFP is based upon the numbers of individual students participating in particular educational programs.  A numerical value is assigned to each student according to the student's hours and days of attendance in those programs.  The individual student thus becomes equated to a numerical value known as an unweighted FTE (full-time equivalent student).  For example, one student would be reported as one FTE if the student was enrolled in six classes per day at 50 minutes per class for the full 180-day school year (i.e., six classes at 50 minutes each per day is five hours of class a day or 25 hours per week, which equals one FTE).

Student Transportation

Any student who is transported by the District must meet one or more of the following conditions in order to be eligible for funding under FEFP:  live two or more miles from school, be physically handicapped, be a Vocational or Exceptional student who is transported from one school center to another where appropriate programs are provided, or meet the criteria for hazardous walking specified in Section 1006.23(4), Florida Statutes.  The District received approximately $8.29 million in State FEFP transportation funding.

The Superintendent's written response to the audit findings and recommendations is included in the audit report.