By:Jason Scheer
Hevesi found that Baldwin's spending within the district was appropriate. However, he cautioned the district to be more careful in the future. He advised the district to adopt written policies for district officials' spending on travel, meals, cell phones and gasoline.
Hevesi highlighted some specific areas for improvement in the report. For example, the district spent $43,000 on travel and conference expenses, with about 23 percent of meal expenses lacking itemized receipts. Also, 25 of 30 conference-related hotel expenses exceeded federal guidelines. Excess ranged from $4 to $175 per night.
Hevesi also expressed concern of meal and refreshment expenditures. The district spent $48,800 on such items but, according to the report, the district has no written policy outlining when it is appropriate to provide meals to employees. The Board of Education addressed this concern at the Dec. 16 Board of Education meeting, passing a resolution that will allow them to determine when meals should be provided.
Baldwin Superintendent of School's Dr. Kathy Weiss issued a statement, saying that the Board of Education has been in the process of implementing policies and procedures both prior to, and during the audit process. Furthermore, she says, procedures will continue to come in line with the suggestions in Hevesi's report.
Dr. Weiss also said that the Comptroller's report failed to highlight some of the "many accolades for our policies and procedures that were informally communicated to us during the course of the audit."
The school district makes use of many systemic controls, including an internal claims auditor and an outside treasurer. Weiss said the district also has a purchase order system that safeguards against misspending.
"Our purchase order system is one that is set up to ensure things that occurred in another district, couldn't happen here," she said.
Hevesi, in a later statement, acknowledged the district's cooperation during the investigation and their policies.
"I commend district staff members for their cooperation during the audit, and the efforts they have made to restore the public's confidence in their financial management practices. It is critical that all school districts take action to develop strong, effective checks and balances to prevent fraud and improve management," Hevesi said.
As with all 21 school districts being audited, Baldwin was selected because of concerns brought to the attention of Hevesi from citizens. However, only two complaints were lodged against the district.
The first of those complaints raised concerns regarding expenses incurred by school officials who attended a conference in New Orleans. This concern was found to be unwarranted.
"Auditors found those expenses to be reasonable and that officials had taken efforts to control costs," Hevesi said.
The second complaint raised concerns about superintendents having district-owned vehicles and credit cards for gas. Again, Hevesi found this was not cause for concern.
"While the Board of Education may provide vehicles as compensation in its employment contracts with superintendents, auditors found no inappropriate gas claims," he said.
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
