COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After years of negative reports, Ohio's State Auditor says the Columbus City Schools are improving their financial and accounting management.
For Fiscal Year 2009, Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor's statutorily-required audit found only one "reportable" issue in the district's accounting. Reportable issues are those which are serious enough that they must be reported to the State Office of Management and Budget. In 2008, there were seven reportable issues. There were 26 reportable issues in the 2007 audit.
In a news release, the district trumpets the improvement as "an 82% drop in the number of comments in the audit report over the last year."
"I think that is remarkable for the district," said Columbus School Board Vice President Stephanie Groce. "We've made a lot of progress. We know we still have a lot of work to do and we will continue to do that. But I congratulate the administration." Groce also serves on the district's Audit and Accountability Committee which monitors the process throughout the year with the help of local experts.
The single issue for 2009 involves Federal Title-1 Grant money used at West Broad Elementary School. According to the audit, the school spent $17,232 more than it was allocated by the district's budget. The principal tells NBC 4 that the money was spent on classroom equipment, directly related to the teaching process. The purchases included "smart boards" and student-response systems as well as document projectors. According to the district, those purchases are allowable under federal grant guidelines and permissible under the audit, but the district allocated more grant money to the individual school than it should have.
"It really is the interaction between the budgeting process and then the amounts expended," says John Davis, a professional accountant who sits on the district's Audit and Accountability Committee.
According to CCS Treasurer and CFO Penny Rucker, the district has a $45 million Title-1 budget and a $1.5 billion (B) total budget. In perspective, a $17,000 mistake is a drop in the bucket.
"While it's very immaterial, it's still taxpayers' dollars. We still take it seriously," says Rucker. "We still look at our processing and our controls and make sure that we have the proper controls in place in
order to prevent that from happening the next time."
"It's tax dollars and so we have to take that seriously, regardless of the amount," says Vice President Groce. "And I think this audit demonstrates to the community we do take managing your resources
seriously."
The district says it already has processes in place to address the remaining reportable issue and it continues to address several smaller concerns raised in the auditor's letter to district management.
To view the full audit, click here.
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