District Administration - September 2006 - (Page 50)

6TH ANNUAL REPORT ON SCHOOL SPENDING Superintendents see themselves as instructional lead- ers, but they are really in charge of a large corporation The Public Education with significant fi nancial issues, Osnato points out. You Dollar don't want to hire a CPA as a superintendent, but an important part of the job is to instill confidence by man- Approximately $440 billion was collected for public elemen- ag i ng the public's money effectively. In the long term, tar y and secondary education for school year 2002-03. he advocates state-required fiscal oversight for school Nationally, revenues increased an average of 4.9 percent over leaders in the meantime, he is reaching out to fi rst-year superintendents with a four-hour course to introduce the previous year's revenues of $420 billion. Expenditures for them to red flags. public education in 2002-03 totaled approximately $387 bil- T he lessons involve poring over a monthly treasurer's lion. This represents a $20 billion 5.2 percent increase over report to understand expenditures by codes, and to look expenditures in the previous school year $368 billion . at enrollment projections. He gives them an overview on how to look for transfers, where people are moving money in and out of accounts frequently, and cautions them to watch grant money. Too many times, busy superintendents just sign state reports. They need to look at it and ask questions, says Osnato. It sounds elementary, but districts trip over these basics every day. Take, for example, the Manhasset Union Free School District in New York that oversees just four schools, 2,600 students and 407 employees. When New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi released RE VENUES BY SOURCE details on its audit in October 2005, he found reimburse- School year 2002-03 ment s totaling $5,313.85 for conference expenses, which Total revenues: $440 billion exceeded federal reimbursement rates by more than State sources 49% $1,200. They district had also honored receipts totaling $2,382 for five days in California when that conference Local sources 43% lasted just two days. That form included a $165 dinner. Federal sources 8% Auditors also discovered $321,000 worth of checks that did not have a required second signature; another 12 checks totaling $29,590 cleared the bank before the internal claims auditor had signed off on them. Checks were written out of sequence, and vendor names didn't match. Nor could auditors fi nd purchase orders for 29 expense claims another $132,000 unaccounted for , and the accounting software package was open to a slew of people who could delete fi les anonymously. T he best defense against fraud, waste and misman- agement is strong internal controls, Hevesi said in his statement. In too many areas, our auditors identified EXPENDITURES BY FUNCTION instances where the Manhasset school district failed to School year 2002-03 do what needed to be done. He has since expressed Expenditures : $388 billion approval of the district's actions to correct the gaps. Non-instruction food service, bookstore, etc. 4% The Big F: Fraud Suppor t services Spinelli has found his calendar booked since the Roslyn school maintenance, nurses, scandal with districts seeking to avoid the same fate. They administration, library, etc. 35% want to take a proactive approach to insure they have a Instruction clean house, or to have proof they were on top of it should teacher salaries, textbooks, etc. 61% something crop up, he explains. Most ask him to send his report to the district attorney should he uncover monkey S ourc e : National Center for Education Statistics, nces.ed.gov, Revenues and Expendi- t ure s for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002-03 business because they have zero tolerance for this non- 50 September 2006 District Administration spending.w.indd 50 8/14/06 11:52:22 AM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2006

Contents
Editor?s Letter
Snapshots
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Unveiling the School of the Future
Are wireless VoIP handsets worth the cost?
Smart ways to detect and manage cyberbullies
Scared Straight
Up for Debate
In the Spotlight
Growing Community Schools
Learning Styles
The Online Edge Odvard Egil Dyrli
Speaking Out Gary Stager
Problem/Solution
Research Corner
Computer Literature
Leadership Books
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - September 2006