Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Chief Financial Officer Tammie McGarr says the school district has implemented or is in the process of adding new policies after an audit of Fiscal Year 2014-15 found five deficiencies with how the district monitors federal awards, food services and receipts from athletic events.
The report, prepared by the Brandon-based certified public accounting firm Fortenberry and Ballard PC for the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor, cited the former Starkville School District on how it oversaw bank reconciliations, followed purchasing procedures and exceeded Title 1 budgetary policies prior to the state-mandated merger with the Oktibbeha County School District.
Two findings dealing with Title 1 grants to local educational agencies revealed deficiencies in the district’s tracking of spending and reimbursements, which could have forced the district to repay money to the Mississippi Department of Education.
Another finding stated 14 purchase invoices preceded their corresponding order, a misaligned management policy the report states could have resulted “in expenditures being made that were not properly authorized and misappropriation of public funds.”
The audit did not reveal any misappropriations and focused solely on improving the district’s financial practices.
McGarr said the district was not forced to repay MDE for Title 1 funding issues.
Other findings include a lack of checks and balances with oversight of the food service account’s bank reconciliations and receipts from sporting events.
A corrective action plan SOCSD previously submitted states the district would implement all recommendations made in the audit this summer.
“Food services is now monitored in the central office, and I am in charge of reviewing bank reconciliations. It’s not that anything was found, it’s just that the same people who do the record keeping shouldn’t also solely review reconciliations,” McGarr said. “(Purchasing issues are) something I’ve really cracked down on because getting purchases approved is how we control the budget. I am also monitoring Title 1 to make sure we do not request any more reimbursements than we spend.”
Auditors, she said, will make preliminary visits to SOCSD in preparation for their FY 2015-16 report, which will cover the first consolidated school system’s financials.
SOCSD Superintendent Lewis Holloway was unavailable for comment Friday.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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