DiNapoli’s Office Completes School Audits

ALBANY, NY -- New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of the following Westchester County schools: Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District, and Tuckahoe Common School District.

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“My office’s audits of school districts, charter schools and BOCES help schools improve their financial management practices,” DiNapoli said. “These audits are tools for schools to make sure proper policies and procedures are in place to protect taxpayer dollars and provide students with the best possible education.” 

Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District – Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Activities (Westchester County)

The audit of the IT system disclosed weaknesses in the controls over users’ access to the district’s financial information and student data applications. District officials have not adopted policies and procedures that address changes made to the district’s computer hardware and software systems. The payroll clerk’s duties were not adequately segregated. In addition, the board did not authorize payment made in excess of $17,000 to the director of technology for additional administrative technology consulting work.         

Tuckahoe Common School District – Internal Controls Over Financial Operations and Leave Accruals (Suffolk County)
The audit identified weaknesses in the district’s controls over financial operations. The business official/treasurer and senior administrative assistant perform incompatible duties involving the key financial functions of authorizing transactions, custody of assets, processing payroll and recordkeeping. As a result, there is no assurance that errors and irregularities, if they occur, could be prevented, detected or corrected timely. There was also a lack of control over budgetary transfers and original voided checks were not maintained. In addition, auditors found that leave accrual balances were not properly maintained. As a result, employees either received additional leave time accruals or used leave time that they were not eligible for.

To view the audits above, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/index.htm.

In order to improve accountability of the state’s schools, DiNapoli’s office will audit all of New York’s 834 school districts, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and charter schools by 2010. The State Comptroller’s office has completed 390 school audits and approximately 200 audits are currently underway.

Comments

Is he doing Yonkers anytime soon?????????????