The Wynantskill Union Free School District (District) is governed by the Board of Education (Board) which comprises five 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. Responsibilities relating to the District’s finances, accounting records and reports are largely those of the District Treasurer. All financial transactions, except for payroll transactions, are processed by the District business office. The District contracts with a private firm for its payroll processing. The District’s financial statements undergo an annual audit by an independent public accounting firm.

The District’s internal controls are various processes affected by the Board, department heads, and other personnel, and are designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the Board’s objectives. It is essential that a coordinated set of policies and procedures be designed to help ensure that financial reporting is accurate, laws and regulations are complied with, assets are safeguarded, and the District operates efficiently and effectively. A good system of internal controls can help prevent or identify errors and irregularities in a timely manner.

Scope and Objective

The objective of our audit was to determine if the Board had implemented appropriately designed internal controls over selected financial operations and if they were operating effectively to adequately safeguard District assets for the period July 1, 2004 to February 9, 2006. Our audit addressed the following related questions:

• Did the Board establish adequate internal control policies and procedures to prevent conflicts of interest?
  
• Did the Board implement adequate internal controls over the auditing and payment of claims and the procurement process to protect District assets?
  
• Did the Board implement adequate internal controls over payroll processing to protect District assets?

Audit Results

The Board has not adopted written policies and procedures to provide guidance and internal controls for payroll processing and leave time accruals, cash disbursements, and the extra-classroom activity fund. The Board’s lack of guidance has resulted in a lack of segregation of duties and compensating controls over the District’s financial operations. Our test procedures disclosed three exceptions with respect to leave time accrual or usage.

Our audit found that the District does not adequately protect its computer equipment from unauthorized access; appropriately store backups of District data; or have a formal disaster recovery plan because the Board has not adopted policies or procedures to address these issues.

Comments of District Officials

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 initiate corrective action.

Complete Audit in PDF