No action was taken on the presentation of an annual audit presented at the February regular meeting of the Newcastle Board of Education. There were three deficiencies noted by auditors, and a list of corrective actions was provided by Superintendent Dr. Melonie Hau.
The audit, conducted by Angel, Johnston and Blasingame, was presented to the board by Steve Blasingame, and was on financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2022.
The first area of concern noted was on purchases from the Activity Fund that were dated after the invoice or receipt date. The audit says Oklahoma School Law requires that a purchase order initiate the purchase, so it can be understood the purchase was not made prior to obtaining an approved purchase order.
In the school’s corrective action plan, Dr. Hau states that the school has added additional approval levels to the school’s electronic requisition system to better track requisitions.
The second area of concern happened because the District was in the process of transitioning between financial personnel when Jeff Landes left as the school’s Chief Financial Officer, and Dr. Hau took over. At that time the District failed to make year-end adjustments to the District’s reserves, and overstated expenditures for the General Fund by $642,763.21, the Building Fund by $9,632.90, and the Bond Fund #39 by $12,061.88.
Hau had brought this to the Board of Education’s attention at a previous meeting, saying corrective actions were being taken.
The auditors also noted that the funds were adjusted by removing the year-end reserves, resulting in the numbers correctly showing the increases in the various fund balances.
A recommendation was made by the auditors for the District to only reserve contracts pending for outstanding encumbrances, those which are contracted for but which are not completed and/ or paid.
Hau states in the Corrective Action Plan that as soon as the problem was discovered the school verified the proper steps for correction.
The last error noted by the auditors that was later corrected was coding of expenditures of a Chickasaw Nation COVID-19 grant the school obtained.
Auditors noted that the school was able to supply documentation that the grants were spent in accordance with the grant guidelines, and they suggested that this documentation be kept. Dr. Hau had also reported this to the Board during a previous meeting.
