Audit committee flags staffing risks, contract reviews and estimates $200,000 in recoverable state aid
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Summary
The district’s audit committee reported turnover in the business office as a top risk, recommended cross‑training and contract reviews, and said a school‑aid specialist estimates $200,000 in additional state aid recoverable (district to net about $170,000 after consultant fee).
The audit committee reported to the board Wednesday that staff turnover and vacancies in the business office are the committee’s primary risk concern and recommended cross‑training and backup for critical roles.
Christine Belarosa, audit committee chair, summarized the committee’s review of the claims auditor and an internal auditor’s annual assessment. The claims auditor reported no recent denied claims and recommended targeted training for new business office personnel. The internal auditor characterized the annual review as a “mile wide and an inch deep” and highlighted the impact of staffing changes and the need to revisit professional services contracts on a five‑to‑seven‑year cycle.
The committee also described work by a school‑aid specialist that identified roughly $200,000 of state aid potentially recoverable; after the specialist’s one‑time fee (15%), the district would net about $170,000 if the identified recovery is realized and approved by the state.
Why it matters: The business office handles large funds — the audit chair noted that extracurricular/extra classroom activity funds can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars and require consistent procedures and training. Turnover creates operational risk, especially for payroll and claims processing.
Board follow‑up: The audit committee recommended cross‑training and developing backups for payroll and other critical functions, review and rebid of long‑standing professional services contracts, and continued work on the external audit draft that had been distributed for internal review.
Quotation: “The biggest high risk that he highlighted during his review was, changing change in its changes in personnel and vacancies, particularly in the business office positions,” Christine Belarosa said when summarizing the internal auditor’s assessment.
Next steps: Business office leadership will prepare corrective actions for committee review; the external audit discussion is expected to continue at the November meeting.