Summary

This operational audit of the District for the period July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2005, disclosed the following:

Finding No. 1:  The District did not ensure that its charter schools provided for and maintained required insurance coverage.

Finding No. 2:  The District needs to enhance its procedures to ensure that the composition of each school advisory council is representative of the community served by the school.

Finding No. 3:  The District did not timely investigate and resolve reconciling items noted on its bank reconciliations or timely report and remit to the State outstanding checks considered to be unclaimed.

Finding No. 4:  The District’s performance-based pay plan for instructional personnel contained provisions that significantly limited participation and performance-based pay awards. 

Finding No. 5:  The District needs to improve internal controls over documenting and processing extra pay (work performed beyond an employee’s regular assigned duties) to ensure that all supporting documentation is properly retained and that all extra-pay time sheets are timely approved and submitted for payment.

Finding No. 6:  The District needs to strengthen internal controls over school-age child care program fee collections to provide for the proper accountability of these fees.

Finding No. 7:  The District forfeited the use of approximately $263,000 in grant moneys that were not timely encumbered or spent.

Finding No. 8:  The District did not timely perform required fingerprinting and background screenings for all staff that had direct contact with students.

Finding No. 9:  The District had not developed policies to provide errors and omissions or liability insurance for design professionals who do not carry such insurance, nor did the District require design professionals to carry such insurance.

Finding No. 10:  The District was unable to provide evidence that annual safety inspections were performed at four District schools and one environmental center.  Also, we noted instances in which facility safety deficiencies remained uncorrected for several years.

Finding No. 11:  The District did not timely tag or otherwise mark newly acquired tangible personal property to show that the items were property of the District. 

Finding No. 12:  The District used capital outlay tax levy funds (property taxes levied for capital outlay purposes) to purchase cleaning equipment and accessories totaling $91,948.  Using capital outlay tax levy funds for such purchases is not authorized by law.

Finding No. 13:  Certain financial information included in the District’s five-year facilities work program was not properly balanced or consistent with the District’s adopted capital outlay budget. 

The Superintendent's written response to the audit findings is included as part of this report on the Auditor General’s Web site.