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4District
News
When is nothing good news?
When it is the result of a New York State
Comptroller's audit
At the Board of Education meeting held Monday, December 17,
2007, Superintendent Jim Hoffman announced that the result of
the audit conducted by the New York State Comptroller’s Office
was a “no findings” report. This type of report states that
there were no deficiencies in the areas audited that required
changes in the processes used by the district.
Every public school district in New York has or will be audited
by the Comptroller's Office in the wake of the 2005 Roslyn, Long
Island school district scandal in which district officials
misused over $11 million. To date, the audits have not uncovered
anything on a similar scale in other districts but, they
frequently reveal that school districts lack adequate policies
and procedures to prevent abuses. Most common deficiencies cited
are insufficient inventory controls of school equipment and poor
record-keeping for reimbursements to school employees.
Fonda-Fultonville's report revealed no shortcomings; it is a
clean bill of health for the district.
The focus of this audit centered on the district’s internal
controls over payroll, to ensure that processes “were
appropriately designed and operating effectively to adequately
safeguard district assets.” The audit reviewed the process used
through the period from July 1, 2005 through July 31, 2007.
While the Superintendent and the Board of Education are very
pleased to have the internal controls in place to be supported
by the audit, the examination of these areas is an ongoing
process, and is annually examined by an external auditor.
The Board of Education and the Superintendent credit longtime
District Treasurer Barbara Springer and district Payroll
Coordinator Mrs. Brenda Leitt with the positive results. Mrs.
Springer retired this past June after nearly 20 years in the
Business Office.
“The audit was an examination of Mrs. Springer’s and Mrs.
Leitt’s methodology and systems they had put in place," Dr.
Hoffman stated. "I am very grateful to both of these individuals
for their hard work and effort, as it has certainly borne
wonderful fruit as demonstrated in this report.”
Click here to view a PDF of the actual report
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