Auditor General DeFoor Releases Audits for School Districts in Dauphin, Cambria and Venango Counties
HARRISBURG – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor today announced the release of audit reports for three school districts, two of which found districts had short-changed themselves on state reimbursements.
“School districts must have internal controls in place to ensure they get back every dollar in state support that they are eligible to receive,” DeFoor said. “When school districts leave state funds on the table, it places an extra burden on local taxpayers.”
The Department of the Auditor General examines the records of school districts, charter schools, intermediate units and area vocational-technical schools. The audit assessments include whether school entities received the state subsidies and reimbursements to which they were entitled, accurately managed taxpayer funds, and complied with ethics codes.
Audits are shared with the state Department of Education so that future reimbursements to school districts can be adjusted to balance out past errors.
The full audit reports are available online using the links provided below.
Dauphin County
Derry Township School District – One finding: The district’s lack of internal controls led to the inaccurate reporting of student transportation data, resulting in a net underpayment from the state of $65,435.
Cambria County
Blacklick Valley School District – Two findings: The district’s lack of internal controls and failure to retain documentation led to auditors being unable to audit $2.3 million in transportation reimbursements from the state. Also, both of the district’s school buildings failed to conduct and/or accurately report all of their monthly fire drills in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years.
Venango County
Valley Grove School District – Two findings: The district’s lack of internal controls led to the inaccurate reporting of mileage and nonresident student transportation data. Combined, these errors resulted in net underpayments from the state totaling $31,729.
Review audits of other school districts and learn more about the Department of the Auditor General online at www.PaAuditor.gov.
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