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Taylor Releases Audits of 19 Ohio Community Schools

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Columbus -

State Auditor Mary Taylor released the audits of 19 Ohio Community Schools today. All of the schools have the same fiscal officer and the same governing board president, while several board members sit on the boards of multiple schools.

The audits note that some board members participated in abusive business practices, as defined by professional auditing standards, for being paid, in some cases, 17 times for attending one board meeting. The audit also reveals improper credit card purchases totaling $2,005.02 by the board president of all 19 schools and two other board members. Each of their credit card purchases were repaid to the various schools during the course of the audit.

 

AUDIT FINDINGS

Abuse                      Over compensating board members for meeting attendance

Finding for  Recovery* Improper credit card purchases of more than $100

Finding for Recovery* Overpayment for attending board meetings

Noncompliance *  Undocumented credit card purchases of less than $100

Bookkeeping Errors/Adjustments

LSC Middletown

-

-

-

X

X

LSC Springfield

-

-

-

X

X

LSC Akron

X

X

X

X

X

LSC Cleveland

X

X

X

X

X

HA University

X

X

-

X

X

HA Canton

X

-

-

X

X

HA North Coast

X

-

-

X

X

LSC Canton

X

-

-

X

X

LSC Lake Erie

X

-

-

X

X

HA Lincoln Park

X

X

X

X

X

LSC Northeast

X

-

-

X

X

LSC Summit County

X

-

-

X

X

HA East

X

-

-

X

X

HA Cuyahoga (West)

X

-

-

X

X

HA Brown Street

X

X

X

X

X

HA Cathedral

X

X

X

X

X

HA Chapelside

X

X

X

X

X

HA Broadway

X

X

X

X

X

HA High School

X

-

-

X

X

* Repaid under audit; LSC = Life Skills Center; HA = Hope Academy                                                                                     

Auditors noted several instances of bookkeeping errors and other adjustments that needed made to the schools financial statements including:

  • Lack of supporting documentation for certain purchases
  • Repeated requests to obtain sufficient supporting documentation
  • Purchases allocated to the wrong schools
  • Incomplete accounting schedules
  • Checks not written in sequential order

Last week, Taylor wrapped up a series of four financial training workshops around the state. The voluntary workshops offered financial, accounting and compliance training to community school sponsors, administrators, fiscal officers, board members and management companies. In total, 270 individuals participated in the training workshops.

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).

Copies of all 19 audits are available online at www.auditor.state.oh.us.