Harlan Kirgan
A audit of the St. Landry Parish School reported several findings and two incidents of non-compliance.
The audit by Kolder, Champagne, Slaven & Company was completed. Dec. 18 and released Jan. 18 on the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s website, lla.la.gov.
On Monday, the audit is on the School Board’s Finance Committee agenda.
Auditors list three material deficiencies, two significant deficiencies and two non-compliance items in the audit cover the fiscal year ending in June 2018.
A material deficiency is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entities financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis, the audit stated.
A significant deficiency is a combination of deficiencies in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness yet important enough to merit attention, the audit stated.
Material deficiencies were:
— Inadequate oversight of school activity funds.
Management’s response was: The School Board performs routine audits of the school activity funds. In the past, school administrators allowed certain groups to spend funds that were not available to their group, which created negative cash balances for some groups. All school administrators have been informed of the proper procedures for spending school activity funds.
— There was inadequate segregation of accounting functions.
Management did not adequately segregate duties among accounting staff when reassigning duties after staff turnover, the report stated. The condition “increases the risk that errors and or irregularities including fraud and or defalcations (embezzlement) may occur and not be prevented and or detected.”
Management’s plan is it will evaluate all duties within the accounting system and ensure that adequate segregation of duties exist.
— Bank reconciliations for payroll account and general fund operating accounts were not prepared.
The cause was stated as the staff did not perform duties as instructed.
“Management should prepare written bank reconciliations within 30 days of receipt of bank statements by an employee who does not have responsibility authority to sign checks; receive and deposit checks, or authorize disbursements. The monthly bank reconciliations should be properly completed, dated, and signed by both the preparer and reviewer approval and be maintained on file for subsequent review and audit.”
Significant deficiencies were:
— Theft of assets. During an fixed asset test on Dec. 1, 2017, “It was determined that a ProBook Notebook with a value of $938 was missing from one of the classrooms at Beau Chene High School. The items was never located and the individual it was assigned to is no longer employed by the district. No police report was filed. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor and District Attorney were notified of the incident.”
Management stated it “will continue to conduct routine inventory checks to mitigate these types of risk. As of the date of this report, the Notebook has not been recovered.”
— Interfund accounts were not being reconciled properly or on a timely basis. because the staff charged with reconciling interfund accounts did not perform duties as instructed.”
Management stated it will reconcile the accounts on a timely basis.
Non-compliance issues were:
— Untimely reporting of theft. The School Board learned of the misappropriation of a public asset in December 2017 and did not notify the Legislative Auditor or District Attorney until October 2018.
State law requires immediate notification in writing to Legislative Auditor or District Attorney.
— Unsecured deposits. On June 30, 2018, the School Board’s deposits at one financial institution were not fully collateralized. The deposit was $44,028 were unsecured. The cause was staff did not perform duties as required.
State law requires fund to be covered 100 percent except for funds insured by the FDIC.
There were also prior findings, all resolved, that were:
— In October 2016 a break-in occurred at a school and four iPods with a value of $916 were stolen. The Legislative Auditor, Grand Coteau Police and District Attorney were notified.
— On Sept. 16, 2016, a printer valued at $199 was delivered to the front of a high school and was stolen before it made it to the designated classroom. The school performed an internal investigation and security footage was viewed but neither revealed what happened to the printer. The Legislative Auditor, Eunice Police and District Attorney were notified.
— On May 2, 2017, a classroom was broken into at an elementary school and an iPad and iPad Mini were stolen. After an investigation the items were returned to the school. The Legislative Auditor, Grand Coteau Police and District Attorney were notified.
— In June 2017, while conducting an annual fixed asset inventory the School Board determined that an HP tablet with a value of $526 was missing from school food services. An investigation was unable to determine what happened or when it was stolen. The Legislative Auditor, Opelosuas Police and District Attorney were notified.
The audit lists total revenue of $143.2 million and total expenditures of $144,964,915 for a loss of $1,753,883.
The school district operated 33 schools with an enrollment of 13,183 for the year ended June 30, 2018.