School audits published issued by the New York State Comptroller during the week ending October 1, 2016
Source: Office of the State Comptroller
[Internet links highlighted in color]
Adirondack Central School District– Financial Condition
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of our audit was to assess the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2014 through February 29, 2016.
Background
The Adirondack Central School District is located in the Towns of Ohio, Russia and Webb in Herkimer County; the Towns of Lewis, Leyden, Lyonsdale and West Turin in Lewis County; and the Towns of Annsville, Ava, Boonville, Forestport, Lee, Remsen, Steuben and Western in Oneida County. The District, which operates five schools with approximately 1,300 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $28.6 million.
Key Findings
In recent years, the Board has balanced its adopted budgets with appropriations of fund balance and reserves, which has led to planned operating deficits from 2012-13 through 2014-15 and a $2.2 million decline in the general fund balance.
The school lunch fund was not self-sufficient and required advances and subsidies from the general fund to finance its operations.
The Board has not developed a multiyear financial plan to address the declining fund balance and to guide the use of the reserve funds.
Key Recommendations
Carefully consider the amount of available fund balance and reserves appropriated to fund future budgets and ensure that a reasonable amount of unrestricted fund balance is retained.
Take the necessary steps to ensure that the school lunch fund becomes self-sufficient, such as increasing revenue or cutting costs.
Develop and periodically review a comprehensive multiyear financial plan to establish long-term objectives for funding long-term needs, provide a framework for future budgets and guide the District’s management of financial condition.
The text of the audit is posted on the Internet at:
Greenburgh Central School District– Payroll and Reserve Funds
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of our audit was to examine the District’s payroll procedures and reserve funds for the period July 1, 2014 through March 23, 2016.
Background
The Greenburgh Central School District is located in the Town of Greenburgh, Westchester County. The District, which operates six schools with approximately 2,000 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $65 million.
Key Findings
District officials have not provided employees with written procedures over payroll.
District officials did not adequately segregate payroll duties or establish sufficient compensating controls.
Overtime and leave requests were not preapproved as required.
There was no evidence that the Board periodically assessed four of the six reserves for necessity.
Key Recommendations
Develop written payroll-processing procedures for employees to follow.
Implement compensating controls to address the lack of segregation of duties in the payroll process.
Ensure that leave time is preapproved, that supporting documentation is retained and that overtime is preapproved.
Adopt a reserve fund policy that addresses the funding and use of all reserve funds.
The text of the audit is posted on the Internet at:
Greenville Central School District– Information Technology
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the District’s internal controls over Information Technology for the period July 1, 2014 through January 14, 2016.
Background
The Greenville Central School District is located in the Town of Greenville in Greene County. The District, which operates two schools with approximately 1,200 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $28.7 million.
Key Findings
The District has not updated its acceptable use policy since September 2001.
The Board has not adopted a breach notification policy.
The District’s disaster recovery plan was not kept up to date, properly distributed or tested on a regular basis.
The District’s web filter permitted categories that did not appear to be for educational purposes.
Key Recommendations
Update the District’s acceptable use policy to include the use of personal devices on the
District’s network and acceptable use of District assets when used outside the District’s network.
Develop a policy for breach notification.
Ensure that the disaster recovery policy is periodically updated.
Adjust the web content filtering to ensure that staff and students are in compliance with the District’s acceptable use policy.
The text of the audit is posted on the Internet at:
LaFargeville Central School District– Financial Condition
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of our audit was to assess the District`s financial condition for the period July 1, 2014 through April 30, 2016.
Background
The LaFargeville Central School District is located in the Towns of Alexandria, Clayton, Le Ray, Orleans, Pamelia and Theresa in Jefferson County. The District, which operates one school with approximately 560 students, is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $11 million.
Key Findings
The Board and District officials overestimated appropriations when developing budgets for the three fiscal years 2012-13 through 2014-15.
District officials appropriated about $1 million of fund balance in each of the past three
fiscal years but the District experienced operating surpluses each year that averaged about $225,000 annually, and as a result, the District did not use any of the appropriated fund balance.
The Business Manager has developed a long-term planning model used when preparing the District’s annual budget but the Board has not officially adopted this or any other multiyear plan to address the District’s use of its excess fund balance.
Key Recommendations
Adopt budgets that represent the District’s actual needs, based on current information and historical data.
Discontinue the practice of adopting budgets that result in the appropriation of fund balance that will not be used.
Formulate a long-term multiyear capital and operational plan that addresses the use of excess unrestricted fund balance in the general fund in a manner that benefits District residents.
The text of the audit is posted on the Internet at: