Auditor General DePasquale Identifies Problems with Management, Operation of Crawford Central School District
Auditor General DePasquale Identifies Problems with Management, Operation of Crawford Central School District
HARRISBURG (April 26, 2013) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today urged the Crawford Central School District in Crawford County to correct problems with the school board president’s potential conflict of interest, oversight of employee hiring, documentation of bus driver qualifications, student recordkeeping and certification of professional employees.
“Parents entrust our schools to provide safe learning environments for their children and taxpayers expect that their tax dollars to be spent efficiently and appropriately,” said DePasquale. “It is my hope that the Crawford Central School District will use this audit as a tool to help them improve their operations and therefore better serve the educational needs of the children in the area.”
Auditors found that during the period of September 2009 through January 2012 Crawford Central School District:
- Violated the Public School Code and possibly the Public Official and Employees Ethics Act by purchasing goods from a business in which the board president is a part owner;
- Failed to have bus driver qualifications on file and up-to-date;
- Failed to update an agreement with pertinent police departments regarding jurisdiction over procedures to be followed in case of an incident on school property;
- Employed several professional employees without proper certification, resulting in a loss of $8,150 in state subsidy payments from the state Department of Education;
- Hired professional employees without school board approval of salaries; and
- Failed to identify some out-of-district students that were placed in district homes by court order resulting in the loss to the district of $85,956 in tuition payments.
To resolve the issues identified in the audit, DePasquale recommended that the district immediately cease doing business with the company where the school board president is part owner, update response agreements with local police, and improve recordkeeping and monitoring of school bus driver qualifications. The auditor general also urged the district to establish procedures to confirm student residency classifications, ensure professional employees have the proper certification for their assigned duties, and make sure that professional employee salaries are approved by the school board at a meeting open to the public.
The department’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.
A full copy of the Crawford Central School District Audit is online at: www.PaAuditor.gov/audit-reports.
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