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Miller Place School District To Be Audited For Administrative Costs
The Miller Place school district in Suffolk County has been added
to the list of school districts being audited for administrative expenses,
such as credit card usage, meals and travel, New York State Comptroller
Alan G. Hevesi announced today.
Miller Place increases the number of Long Island school districts
being audited to 21, which includes five in-depth audits and 16 administrative
audits. Seven of the 16 administrative audits have begun at Baldwin,
East Meadow, Elmont, Massapequa, Plainedge, Syosset and Westbury. Audits
of Central Islip, East Islip, Locust Valley, Miller Place, North Shore,
Riverhead, Sachem, Three Village and Wyandanch will begin later this
fall and in early 2005.
In-depth audits examining internal controls over financial operations — purchasing,
payroll, cash collections and accounting — and detailed testing
of individual transactions are underway in the Roslyn, Brentwood, Hempstead,
Lawrence and Manhasset districts.
“We were contacted by a number of concerned residents who requested
an audit of Miller Place, but we have no knowledge that anyone in the
district has done anything inappropriate. No judgment should be passed
until the audit is complete,” Hevesi said. “We are conducting
these audits to improve financial oversight in districts and to ensure
the public that our school resources are being spent appropriately.”
On Tuesday, Hevesi announced a five-point plan developed in cooperation
with a coalition of educators and administrators to increase financial
accountability in schools statewide. Among the proposals are requiring
six-hours of training for new school board members, enhancing the effectiveness
of external audits, requiring audits committees, creating an internal
audit function, and requiring districts to request bids from their
auditors and change auditing firms every five years.
While the plan will be submitted to the legislature, Hevesi is urging
school districts to adopt the recommendations now.
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Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015 Fax:(518)
473-8940
NYC Phone: (212) 681-4825 Fax:(212) 681-4468
Internet: http://www.osc.state.ny.us
E-Mail:press@osc.state.ny.us |
