Finance offices lack independence, qualified personnel, state report finds

The Columbus Dispatch

10/6/2005

By Jennifer Smith Richards

The taxpayers’ watchdog for the Columbus school board can’t be independent because the office reports to too many people, including those it might investigate, a state audit found.

The audit also found weaknesses in the Columbus Public Schools treasurer’s office, which it said seemed complacent and lacked high-quality employees. Workers lack formal training for the job, the report said: About 90 percent of account clerks in the treasurer’s office came from the food-service department and have “little or no computer or keyboarding skill.”

A series of financial bungles prompted the school board to ask the state auditor in April to review the performance of the district’s offices of treasurer and internal auditor, both of which are under new leadership. The state made the audit public Tuesday.

“Based upon some of the recent missteps happening . . . in the treasurer’s office, it was obvious to me that there were things that needed to be overhauled or reviewed in a serious way,” board President Stephanie Hightower said. But she was less convinced that the internal auditor’s office needed more independence.

Last year, Treasurer Jerry Buccilla left the district shortly after it was revealed that the district had failed to budget properly for ballooning healthcare costs and worsening financial strain caused by the exodus of students to charter schools.

Internal Auditor Tina Abdella was fired at about the same time, after a evaluation that criticized her work and communication with board members and the administration.

Replacements have since been hired.

The treasurer and internal auditor are two of the three positions that report directly to the school board. The third is the superintendent, currently Gene Harris.

In addition to making the internal auditor more independent, state auditors made several other recommendations:

The district should find a new way to track its assets. Financial audits of the district have said tracking district assets is a continuing problem. In 1998, for example, the state chided the district for losing track of more than $1 million.
Schools should follow existing rules for overseeing their student-activity funds.
The treasurer’s office should set minimum job requirements for its employees.
The district should find a better way to track the hundreds of millions it receives in grants each year.
“They administer over 600 grants every year, and may have as many as seven departments involved in any one of those grants,” said Jeff LaRue, spokesman for state Auditor Betty D. Montgomery. “Putting all grantwriting under the treasurer’s office will streamline a lot.”

Hightower said the district will rethink job requirements and roles for treasurer’s office employees first. Other recommendations will be tackled as funds become available, she said.

But changes to the internal auditor’s office don’t seem likely; Hightower said she thinks the office is designed efficiently and is able to maintain its independence.

The report said employees in the internal auditor’s office don’t know who their boss is. The internal auditor has reported to the treasurer’s office and the superintendent’s administration - members of which might be subjects of audits at any time.

“The bottom line is the auditor works for the board of education, not the superintendent or treasurer. I think everybody in those key leadership roles understands that,” Hightower said. “There are protocols set in place to ensure the auditor’s work is not compromised.”

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

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