Follow-Up Audit Report on Other Than Personal Services Expenditures of Schools within the Department of Education Regional Operations Center for Region 8 and Alternative High Schools and Programs

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This is a follow-up audit to determine whether the Department of Education (DOE) has implemented the five recommendations made in a previous audit entitled Audit Report on Other Than Personal Service (OTPS) Expenditures of Schools within Regional Operations Center for Region 8 and Alternative High Schools and Programs (Audit No.FP05-078A, issued May 4, 2005). In this report, we discuss the five recommendations from the prior audit in detail, as well as the implementation status of each recommendation.

The earlier audit determined whether DOE procurement policies and procedures were followed for purchases of goods and services made by schools in Regions 8 and Alternative High Schools and Programs that required Regional Operations Center (ROC) approval. In that audit, the auditors determined that the officials of the ROC and schools in Regions 8 and Alternative High Schools and Programs (District 79) generally followed DOE’s procurement policies and procedures for purchases that required ROC approval with the exception of the following: vendor invoices were not always on file; files lacked documentation showing that the items purchased were reasonable and necessary for the operation of the school and that the services were actually provided; and purchase files lacked evidence of competitive bidding.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The current audit disclosed that DOE implemented four of the five recommendations and partially implemented one recommendation made in the previous audit. The recommendation that was partially implemented concerned ensuring that all services are rendered before the payment of invoices. In regard to that recommendation, we found that one purchase in our sample did not have on-line certification or other documentation to show that services were rendered. Therefore, we could not determine whether the purchasing school received the goods and services.

During this audit, we identified a new issue concerning one school that split a purchase to circumvent the monetary threshold that requires obtaining appropriate prior approval of the purchase by the ROC. Further, it appears that neither ROC 8 nor ROC 9 is fully accountable for purchases made by Bard High School.

Audit Recommendations

To address the issue from the previous audit that still exists, we recommend that DOE officials:

• Ensure that all goods and services that have been received be certified on-line prior to making payment.

To address the new issue identified in this audit, we recommend that DOE officials, in conjunction with the district representatives:

• Ensure that schools do not avoid the approval process by splitting the value of purchases.
• Ensure that the correct ROC is accountable for Bard High School purchase orders.