Auditor General DePasquale Says Dauphin County School District Audits Should Compel Review of Student Transportation Contracts Statewide

June 24 2013

Auditor General DePasquale Says Dauphin County School District Audits Should Compel Review of Student Transportation Contracts Statewide

HARRISBURG (June 24, 2013) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today urged school districts across the state to review contracts and records for student transportation after auditors reported that two districts in Dauphin County discovered their bus and van contractor over-billed them for a total of nearly $1 million.

“I commend Upper Dauphin Area and Halifax Area school districts for finding and acting swiftly to correct the overcharges and I urge all school districts to review transportation contracts and records to make sure this is not a common occurrence,” DePasquale said. “We need every dollar possible going toward classroom education for our students. The thought that a transportation provider overcharged two districts nearly $1 million is ridiculous.”

In 2011, the Upper Dauphin Area School District discovered that its contractor had overstated mileage for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years resulting in the state Department of Education (PDE) incorrectly reimbursing the district for more than $550,000 in transportation payments. The Upper Dauphin Area School District was able to recover more than $450,000 from the contractor.

A neighboring school district, Halifax Area, also conducted an internal review. They found that the contractor had falsely reported mileage for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years resulting in PDE wrongly reimbursing the district for more than $400,000 in transportation payments. The district has been unable to recover the money from the contractor, who has since gone out of business.

Both cases are being investigated by law enforcement.

To correct the problems both school districts purchased a software package to develop efficient bus and van routes and to better monitor transportation vendor mileage.

The Department of the Auditor General’s Bureau of School Audits examines the records of school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, and area vocational-technical schools. The audits — among other things — assess whether or not school districts received the state subsidies and reimbursements to which they were entitled, accurately managed taxpayer funds, and complied with ethics codes. The audits also determine whether or not teachers and administrators were properly certified for the positions they held during the audit period.

Full copies of both audits are available at: www.PaAuditor.gov/audit-reports.

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