The Herald incorrectly reported facts about the recently released state comptroller's audit of the Valley Stream Central High School District.
First, while the district paid $12 million to 140 vendors in the 2005-06 school year, of all the contracts examined by the comptroller's office, only one was criticized. We reported inaccurately that all these payments were made without going through a competitive process.
The comptroller's office selected only 11 purchase and public works contracts totaling $734,567 (of that $12 million) for review to determine if bids were obtained and the lowest responsible vendor was selected. Only one of those 11 contracts, the one for security services, was determined by the comptroller's office not to have been bid.
The comptroller's office report found all other contracts to have gone correctly through the bidding process. The district is now bidding out its security services, resolving the one item of criticism.
Secondly, the article also misstated how much money the district had in its fund balance over that which is allowed by the state. The total of the excess was $3.5 million concluding the 2006-2007 school year. The district expects to close the 2007-2008 in complete compliance, meaning at or under the amount allowed.
The Central High School District Board of Education will be holding its next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. at Memorial Junior High School, during which district officials will make a presentation on the audit's findings. The Herald acknowledges its errors, and apologizes for misinforming our readers on the findings related to contract bidding and excess fund balance.
