FOR RELEASE:

DiNapoli's Office Completes School Audits

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of East Rochester Union Free School District and Marlboro Central School District.

“My office’s audits of school districts 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.”

East Rochester UFSD – Internal Controls Over Purchasing (Monroe County)
The audit found district officials paid a transportation provider $388,888 more than the contracted amount and spent $44,800 on athletic transportation without seeking competitive proposals. The district’s purchasing policy for professional services did not require requests for proposals. In addition, the accounts payable clerk handled almost all phases of transactions including vendor maintenance, recording purchase orders, and preparing and recording disbursements, while having the ability to modify any of these items. This lack of segregation of duties resulted in a poor system of internal controls, which could have allowed for errors or irregularities to occur and remain undetected.

Marlboro CSD – Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Operations (Orange and Ulster counties)
Auditors found the board needed to improve its oversight of district operations. Three board members, including the board president, did not complete the required fiscal oversight training at the time of our audit. This did not set the proper “tone at the top,” which contributed to the weaknesses auditors found in the district’s internal controls over purchasing, claims processing, payroll and information technology. In addition, district officials failed to comply with competitive bidding requirements when procuring goods and services. District officials did not establish procedures for preparing and disbursing payrolls or for maintaining time records.

Click here to view the audits above. If you have any questions or would like a comment from the Comptroller’s office regarding the audits above, please call 518-474-4015.

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