Monday, September 28, 2015

State audit follow-up: School district is improving

(From State Auditor Nicole Galloway)

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released a follow-up report to the St. Joseph School District audit, which earned a "poor" rating in February 2015. The follow-up report, which does not include an overall rating, highlights the steps the district has taken to implement audit recommendations.

"St. Joseph School District officials have used the audit process to improve operations and transparency across the district," Galloway said. "Although additional work is necessary, the district has made clear improvements over the past six months and I expect the community will continue to hold the district accountable as it moves forward."

For follow-up reporting purposes, audit findings are prioritized and selected recommendations are evaluated and ranked as implemented, in progress, partially implemented or not implemented.

In the St. Joseph School District follow-up report, 22 out of 40 recommendations were selected for evaluation. At the time of the follow-up review, 10 recommendations were implemented and 12 recommendations were in progress.

The district has made progress toward implementing recommendations to increase transparency and oversight of district compensation, appropriate personal use of district vehicles, and accuracy of vacation leave and pay.

The district has successfully implemented findings related to Missouri Sunshine Law compliance; computer data backup and recovery systems; summer school attendance reporting; board approval for contracts and large purchases; supervision and review of payroll and timesheet activities; and bond proceed and expenditure accounting.

The follow-up review for St. Joseph School District was primarily conducted in June 2015. The information in the report is deemed accurate through that time. A link to the complete follow-up report is available here.

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