By: Hector Flores
The recommendation came a month after an annual audit found the district to be in good financial standing. Sheldon Dumain, the Bellmore schools superintendent, credited the budget's clean bill of health to the work done by the board's purchasing committee, which oversees purchase orders, price quotes, invoices, shipping documents and check disbursements.
The sharpened focus on the district's finances follows a year of budget scandals in respected districts like Roslyn. School officials across Long Island are now looking at ways to upgrade their budget safeguards.
Bellmore board Vice President Ted Tanenbaum asked the district to consider bringing in the auditor. But Dumain said that before the recommendation could be considered, he had to check with the district's accountant on whether there's enough money in the budget for an auditor.
"We don't have the budget," Dumain said. "We are the only district with a purchasing committee, and there is no better check than the one we have." Dumain explained that the purchasing committee is made up of two board members.
The superintendent said that some districts are training their school board members to become auditors. "This is something the board should also consider," Dumain said.
But Tanenbaum said, "The board should at least consider hiring someone, because it would be good to know how much it would cost."
Board President Jay Breakstone said, "An internal auditor is attractive, because it would free two trustees to join other committees."
Richard Snyder, Bellmore's assistant superintendent of business and technology, said that each month, members of the purchasing committee receive a suitcase containing 300 packages, including price quotes, purchase orders, invoices, shipping documents and copies of checks.
"Last month, the members looked through 300 stapled packages and checked for things such as wrong prices, vendors and how many quotes were listed," he said. "Anything over $10,000, you need to see more quotes."
This is how the purchasing system works: if a school needs an air-conditioner, the district must review competing vendors and get the best possible prices or quotes for the unit before buying one. Once that's done, the principal of the school that needs the air-conditioner fills out a purchase order. The document is sent to the assistant superintendent, who must verify that the unit is needed and check whether there's a spare unit available at another district school. If the item is needed, the purchase order goes to Snyder, who checks on whether the district has enough money in its budget to buy the unit.
Once these steps are complete, the purchase order is signed by the principal, the assistant superintendent and Snyder. It is then sent to the vendor.
When the air-conditioner is brought to the school's principal, he or she checks the item. The purchase list containing the air-conditioner is then sent to Snyder, who also approves the item. Once the unit is checked by the principal and Snyder, the purchasing department cuts a check.
According to Snyder, when the purchasing committee receives its suitcase of forms to review, members spend 45 minutes going over items and discussing them. Snyder said that committee members do this because they want to know who ordered certain items, and whether they were purchased at the best prices.
"We have great controls, because our district is small," Snyder said. "An internal auditor would just supplement what we have. But in the end, it's the taxpayers who need to have a say if the Bellmore School District needs an internal auditor."
The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m., at the Winthrop Avenue School.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
