header

Cleveland Community School Declared “Unauditable”

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Cleveland -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor declared Greater Achievement Community School “unauditable” for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.  The declaration means that the school’s financial records are incomplete and auditors cannot conduct a routine financial audit.

State law requires the school sponsor, ASHE Culture Center, to provide the Auditor of State with a written plan within 45 days.  The plan should describe their efforts to supply the documentation necessary to conduct an audit.  Additionally, the sponsor is prohibited from opening any additional community schools while the finances of Greater Achievement Community School are considered unauditable.

The Auditor of State has informed the Ohio Department of Education that certain school documents showing how tax dollars were spent are either missing, incomplete or inaccurate.  If financial statements and records are not brought into an auditable condition within 90 days, the Department of Education would withhold state funding for the school until the situation is corrected.  Payments to the school would resume once the unauditable condition is corrected.

In 2007, Auditor Taylor hosted the first ever series of financial training workshops for community schools around the state.  Due to the success of the event additional training sessions were held in 2008 and to date the classes have served almost 500 attendees.  The voluntary workshops offer financial, accounting and compliance training to community school sponsors, administrators, fiscal officers, board members and management companies.

###

The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office is one of the largest accounting offices in the nation.  The office strives to ensure that all public funds are spent legally and appropriately and works aggressively to root out fraud, waste and abuse in public spending.  Taylor encourages anyone suspecting fraud or misspending of public dollars to contact her office toll free at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).  Since taking office in January 2007, Taylor has identified more than $16.4 million in public funds that were spent illegally and must be repaid.