Legislative Joint Auditing-Educational Institutions

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming. Sheriff said a quorum. Of the eighty. Taking care of the adoption immense of June third two thousand twenty one meeting. Motion made. And second all those in favor of the motion say aye. Opposed motion carried. see review of reports. In. Turn that over to you if you're ready. Ready as a survey. Good afternoon today we have eighty four educational reports for the fiscal year twenty twenty to review. Of those eighty four reports there were seven with findings and two of those were referred to the applicable prosecuting attorney and we will start with the two reports that referred to a prosecuting attorney university of central Arkansas had one finding an employee reported two hundred sixty one hours of comp time the internal audit determined or inflated resulting in over cruel of salary payments totaling twenty nine hundred dollars from March to July twenty twenty this individual's employment was terminated in November of twenty twenty as partial reimbursement to the university two one two hours of accrued comp time annual leave holiday pay and hours worked were deducted from the former employees final final paycheck. The University reach an agreement with the former employee for the remaining fifty nine hours totaling six hundred sixty four dollars which is to be repaid over twelve month period and that concludes the findings for university of central Arkansas. Are there any questions. So you know questions without objection we'll. File this report mmhm. The next reporter is westside consolidated school district which had to findings referred to the local prosecuting attorney. The district paid a little over thirteen thousand dollars for repairs and other services to a company in which a board member had a financial interest although the board passed a resolution allowing the district to conduct up to ninety nine hundred dollars in business with this company the board did not amend the amount or obtain the necessary approval from the Commissioner of Education as required by Arkansas Code. The second finding the district identified two fraudulent checks totaling sixty seven hundred dollars that cleared the district's bank account on November twenty second twenty nineteen. The bank returning the funds to the district on November twenty six of twenty nineteen and that concludes the findings for westside consolidated school district. Which makes. Do we have any idea the nature of the fraudulent checks. Yes so those were both forged checks they were written to addresses in Georgia and New Jersey the district did file a police report with the Craighead county sheriff's department so that individual who did the forging is either been fired or dismissed or or prosecutor we know the outcome of that do not know the outcome of that. Any other questions. If not. With the the The objection we will file this report. Thank we have next report is Cleveland County school district which had to findings. The district could not account for one equipment item costing two thousand dollars purchase in the previous year for the head start program. In finding to during our examination of head start payroll expenditures we noted internal control deficiencies that resulted in the following clerical errors one employee was overpaid sixteen hundred dollars and for employees were underpaid a total of just under twenty six hundred dollars and that completes the findings for Cleveland County school district. There any questions. If not without objection the report will be filed. That support is harmony Grove school district which had to findings during our examination of seventeen free and reduced meal applications we noted two applications that were not review timely which resulted in the district in correctly classifying that applications as free eligibility the correct correct classification was reduced price and paid mills respectively which the district updated in January and February of twenty twenty. Finding to. The district selected five free or reduced price meal applications for verification purposes we selected one verified application for audit inspection but the district was unable to provide the supporting documentation submitted by the household applicant and that concludes the findings for harmony Grove school district. Are there any questions own partner Grove school district. If not without objection we'll file this report. The next report which have one finding was the Jacksonville north Pulaski school district. The district unless a classified two point one million dollars of bond principal payments as interest payments in the other funds in the aggregate. The financial statements were subsequently corrected by adjusting entry during audit fieldwork. That concludes the findings for Jacksonville north Pulaski school district. Dotson. Thank you Mr I'm sorry can we go back to harmony Grove for just a second I have a question our I know where a file the report but. The seventeen free and reduced meal applicants we know where that put them on the Status of tier one tier two tier three that put them over the edge into the next here. I do not have that information but I could certainly get it for you at the conclusion of our meeting that that would be good to know if if that bump them up into a bracket where they're getting. Double or three times as much funding from the state for those those friend reduced applications thank you. You like to get that to the entire community or just yourself for what the. Entire committee. Okay. The other questions. If not go to Jacksonville. I just. Questions on that I just read that one oh I'm sorry I'm sorry. There were there were any questions on the phone Jacksonville flush but north Pulaski. Okay. In we fall that one okay. The next one is kipp delta public schools. that one finding time certifications for the national school lunch program and the school best breakfast program we're not completed procedures are in place for personnel to complete time certifications at the end of the school semester however management was unable to provide time certifications that were selected for testing due to the forms being misplaced and or not completed that concludes the findings for kipp delta public schools. Any questions. If not without objection will file the report. The final report with findings was Searcy special school district which had to findings the first one the district did not solicit bids for various paving projects totaling just over a hundred thirty one thousand dollars as required by Arkansas Code. In finding to the district did not obtain a performance bond for the football scoreboard project in the amount of three hundred sixty four thousand dollars as required by Arkansas Code and that concludes the findings for Searcy special school district. Are there any questions on that one. Mr Gilmour. Did they give a reason for not following the to the not understand law because that I'm I look at the response here and it just says they will follow the law. The religious not aware of the law or. They give a reason other than that on the paving projects they had a three year contract with a paving company that ended in may of twenty nineteen. And so the paving projects in the finding were completed in July of twenty nineteen so they were not covered for that extra period and should have gotten the bids. As far as the football scoreboard project. I would need them to answer that. Which may be. Thank you Mr chair so what's the penalty to them for doing this amended and seem at just okay we won't do it again there's no penalty. There may be something as far as desi is the oversight agency but I'm I'm not aware of anything specifically. Mr Gilmore. So could could we get a response from them on the school board. Our school board I'm sorry. Yeah I can contact them and see if we can get a little bit more of a response than what we have here yeah I think that would be helpful for the committee thank you. Mr Baker. Thank you I think we do have some from the department of it if they just wanna come up. Sorry. Just respond just let us know is it just a slap on the hand and don't do it again or is there some type of penalty on it. Police station name and who you're with then personally. I just broke it Greg Rogers department education so it is something that will monitor it because that is when indicated for fiscal distress and so we can put him on of early intervention for it or it can go straight fiscal stress if that and a drop in the fund balance something else going on in that would jeopardize the integrity of the school district is coming up so it is something that we watch they have to file their response to the audit with us to do something that we do make sure that they have corrected. Mr Dobson thank you Mr Greg if the if they don't. Follow the law was like that with that what are the next steps you said fiscal distress but at what point do you step in and do something different Is there a state takeover at that point. It happens so not necessarily state takeover but and physical distress we can put them on fiscal distress which not state takeover but fiscal stress where they have to submit that request to the department to be approved for that day can be spent so that what is something that we can do with them if it is an ongoing issue and I said other issues are going on with them but as long as they file that with us they are fallen that is something that will monitor and if they still keep having trouble we would probably put on the early intervention first and try to find out why they're not following it and then if it's still not there then we would look at something more serious like a fiscal distress required that does to be approved okay thank you. Any other questions. If not we'll objection. This report is been filed. The remaining seventy seven reports listed on pages five and six consist of audits with no findings staff recommends that these reports be filed in mass. Look those over the issue. Have an issue with one that you'd like to. Pullout. Then discuss we give you just a second. Otherwise we will match all these together and. Okay. Say no question reload junction will will file we will file this report. Thank that is all ninety six anymore comments. If not this meeting is adjourned thank you.