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Meeting of the Board of Regents | April 2003

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

 

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO:

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

FROM:

Daniel Tworek

COMMITTEE:

Subcommittee on Audits

TITLE OF ITEM:

Audit Activities

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

March 31, 2003

PROPOSED HANDLING:

Discussion

RATIONALE FOR ITEM:

Enables the Board of Regents to review audits.

STRATEGIC GOAL:

5

AUTHORIZATION(S):

SUMMARY:

The following materials are attached.

  • Roadmap
  • Minutes of March Meeting (Attachment I)
  • Audit Report Abstract (Attachment II)
  • Audit Report

 

REGENTS SUBCOMMITTEE

ON AUDITS

MEETING ROADMAP

DATE: April 28, 2003

TIME: 2:00-2:50 pm

ROOM: 146 EB

TOPIC

OUTCOME

WHO

MINUTES

Opening Remarks

Greetings

Regent Chapey

2

Review Agenda/Minutes (Attachment I)

Approval

Sheldon

1

Audit Report Abstract (Attachment II)

Questions addressed

SED Staff

20

Updates on Other Activities

Updated understanding

OAS Staff

25

Next Session

Discussion

Sheldon

2


 

Attachment I

MEETING OF THE REGENTS SUBCOMMITTEE ON AUDITS

Monday, March 24, 2003

Subcommittee Members in Attendance:

Regent Geraldine D. Chapey, Chair

Regent James C. Dawson, Vice Chair

Regent Joseph E. Bowman

Regent Arnold B. Gardner

Also in attendance, Commissioner Richard Mills

Discussion Items

Regent Chapey opened the meeting by reminding the members of their responsibilities as described by Regents Goal Number 5. She also mentioned the increasing importance of the auditing function and the increased visibility of the work of the Subcommittee.

The Subcommittee recognized the contribution of Rose Johnson who will be leaving the Office of Audit Services (OAS) to join the VESID management team. It was pointed out that the OAS is losing staff as a result of reassignment opportunities and normal attrition. The staff level is down 13 people from the 31 approved positions.

Previous Meeting Minutes

The Subcommittee approved the prior meeting minutes.

Audits:

OAS staff were present to answer any of the Regents questions on the following audits.

  • Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES (BOC-0701-1)

  • Hebrew Academy for Special Children, Inc. Preschool Program (CA-0302-5)

Communicating Information to the Full Board:

Regent Chapey advised the members of the Subcommittee that last month she reported to the Full Board on the activities of the Subcommittee. She told the Full Board of the contributions of the Subcommittee on the issuance of such documents as the Statement on the Governance Role of a Trustee or Board Member and the Indicators of Fiscal Stress.

At this time, she asked for input from the other members on how to connect with other committees and subcommittees of the Board. In other words, how to become more effective in reaching those who can benefit from the information. Communication may be to the Full Board or to the many external groups that make up the University of the State of New York (USNY).

Concerns with fiscal viability of other USNY members were discussed. The discussion that followed generated the following suggestions:

  • Since the work of the Subcommittee affects the other committees, periodic meetings between members of the Regents Subcommittee on Audits and the other committees should be scheduled, or representatives of each of the deputies should attend the Subcommittee meeting.

  • The methodology for monitoring school districts under fiscal stress should be shared with the higher education community to encourage improvement to the curricula for education management programs. It was suggested that the best way to accomplish such an action is to bring it to the Regents Committee on Higher and Professional Education.

School Districts in Financial Stress:

Staff provided a handout showing data on 16 schools that are in fiscal stress. Ten schools are on the list for the second time, six were removed from the prior year list, and six new districts were added. It was also mentioned that other districts exhibit some negative fiscal data, although not as severe as those on the list, and they will also be sent letters advising them of our concerns.

The Commissioner challenged the members of the Subcommittee to consider policy actions that will prevent school districts from getting into financial difficulties.

Attachment II

Audit Report Abstracts

Regents Subcommittee on Audits

April 2003

Office of Audit Services

Audit

Major Finding

Recommendations/

Response

Wyandanch Union Free School District

SD-0702-1

10th Judicial District

$0 adjustment

The audit reported on actions taken by officials of the Wyandanch Union Free School District (District) to implement the recommendations included in a prior audit report (Report SD-0200-3). The prior report found that improvements were needed in the Board�s governance and oversight of management, and the policies and procedures for collecting and reporting financial and student performance were inadequate and unreliable. The audit also found improvement opportunities related to Board responsibilities, technology planning, instructional staffing, special education related issues, and student health records.

The follow-up audit found that, although District officials agreed with the findings and recommendations in the prior audit, they failed to fully implement most of the recommendations and, therefore, many of the conditions first cited still exist. The District still needs to make improvements in Board governance and oversight, and the collecting and reporting of financial and student performance data. For example, we found that the District was again not able to adequately support its dropout statistics and that the actual dropout rate was 22 percent, or four times the preliminary estimates. In addition, we found that the District still needs to make improvements in financial controls, some of which have deteriorated since our prior audit. For example, we found that, although the District has a Treasurer, this Treasurer was not officially appointed by the Board and is still not fulfilling many of the responsibilities of the position.

68 recommendations

The follow-up audit determined that 7 recommendations were implemented, 27 were partially implemented, and 34 were not implemented.

To ensure ongoing accountability with the improvement opportunities recommended in this report, the Performance Plan for the District will include a provision for the District to continue reporting on actions taken on recommendations not yet implemented, as reflected in this report. This will begin with the quarter ending June 30, 2003.