District 13 audit reported multiple payments left undocumented

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New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli published an audit on Aug. 5 that concluded that school officials in District 13 did not always get competitive quotes or adhere to bidding policies set by the Board of Education for purchasing.

“The district has implemented its Corrective Action Plan to address the recommendations made in the report, including the adoption of a purchasing policy that addresses professional services and required documentation for items that fall under bidding thresholds,” Superintendent Constance Evelyn wrote in an email to the Herald.

Auditors sampled 30 vendors who were paid approximately $2.2 million between July 2014 and December 2015, and found that officials did not document payments totaling $757,700 to two vendors for transportation, and did not document sole-source payments totaling $53,000 to two vendors for textbooks, according to the report.

While the board adopted policies and procedures for purchases that do not require competitive bidding, the report indicated that district officials did not follow the policies, and used competitive quotes to procure goods and services from 14 vendors paid a total of $116,626.

The audit states that effective purchasing processes can help school districts add services, supplies and equipment from the lowest-priced sources, which helps schools use resources efficiently and guards against favoritism, extravagance and fraud.

As part of the Corrective Action Plan, Evelyn said, the district will better document verbal and written quotes for purchased items that are subject to its competitive bidding thresholds.

“We appreciate the feedback provided by the examiners from the comptroller’s office,” she said, “and welcome the opportunity to improve our operations related to purchasing.”

Key recommendations of the audit:

  • Solicit bids for bus and van transportation services that have no current bid documentation in place.
  • Identify all sole-source vendors and obtain the required documentation, such as sole-source letters signed by an authorized contact person, stating that the vendor is the only source for the given product and that it cannot be obtained elsewhere.
  • Obtain quotes for purchases under bidding thresholds as stipulated by district regulations prior to approving purchase orders.