Background

The Byram Hills Central School District (District) is located in the Towns of Bedford, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, and North Castle, in Westchester County. The District is governed by the Board of Education (Board) which comprises seven elected members. The Board is responsible for the general management and control of the District’s financial and educational affairs. The Superintendent of Schools (Superintendent) is the chief executive officer of the District and is responsible, along with other administrative staff, for the day-to-day management of the District under the direction of the Board.

There are four schools in operation within the District, with approximately 2,800 students and 500 employees. The District’s budgeted expenditures for the 2005-06 fiscal year were $61 million, which were funded primarily with State aid, real property taxes, and grants.

Objective

The objective of the audit was to review the District’s internal controls over cash receipts, cash disbursements, and purchasing. Our audit addressed the following question:

• Did the Board implement and monitor adequate internal controls relating to the District’s cash receipts, cash disbursements, and purchasing?
  

Scope and Methodology

We examined the District’s internal controls over cash receipts and disbursements, and purchasing for the period July 1, 2005 to October 16, 2006.

We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). More information on such standards and the methodology used in performing this audit are included in Appendix B of this report.

Comments of District Officials and Corrective Action

The results of our audit and recommendations have been discussed with District officials and their comments, which appear in Appendix A, have been considered in preparing this report. District officials generally agreed with our recommendation and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.

The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. Pursuant to Section 35 of the General Municipal Law, Section 2116-a (3) (c) of the Education Law and Section 170.12 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, the Board must approve a corrective action plan that addresses the findings in this report, forward the plan to our office within 90 days, forward a copy of the plan to the Commissioner of Education, and make the plan available for public review in the District Clerk’s office. For guidance in preparing the plan of action, the Board should refer to applicable sections in the publication issued by the Office of the State Comptroller entitled Local Government Management Guide.