Background

The Nyack Union Free School District (District) is located in the Towns of Clarkstown and Orangetown, in Rockland County. The District consists of six villages and hamlets: Central Nyack, Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Grandview, Upper Nyack, and Valley Cottage. 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 five schools in operation within the District, with approximately 2,943 students and 650 employees. The District’s budgeted expenditures for the 2005-06 fiscal year were $62,011,204, which were funded primarily with State aid, real property taxes, and grants.

The Board adopted purchasing policies that outline responsibilities for District purchasing activities including the use of competitive bidding in conformance with General Municipal Law requirements. The Assistant Superintendent of Business is the District’s purchasing agent and is responsible for implementing the District’s procurement policies.

Objective

The objective of our audit was to examine the District’s internal controls over purchasing. Our audit addressed the following related question:

• Were internal controls over the District’s purchasing processes appropriately designed and operating effectively to adequately safeguard District assets?

Scope and Methodology

We examined internal controls over the District’s purchasing for the period July 1, 2005 to January 29, 2007. 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 C 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 recommendations, and indicated they planned to take corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in the District’s response.

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.

---

Complete Audit in PDF