State audit session like a root canal — without anesthesia



GUILDERLAND — The school board here is anticipating — without great enthusiasm — the release of an audit on district finances from the state comptroller’s office.
"We will expect to receive the official word in the next month," said Richard Weisz, adding that board members would probably learn of it in a newspaper headline. Weisz is the president of the school board and also chairs its audit committee.

The committee met on Sept. 27 with representatives from the comptroller’s office to review the preliminary report, completed in March.
"We had a spirited discussion," said Weisz, summing up his stance to the auditors this way: "If you would tell us the way we want to do it in a template, we would do it that way."

The comptroller’s office, under former comptroller Alan Hevesi, revived its audits of school districts after scandals broke in Long Island schools. The statewide initiative is to monitor public schools after gross fraud and embezzlement was found in those schools.
Locally, following an audit of the Voorheesville schools, Hevesi, in a widely covered press conference in January of 2006, accused two retired administrators of "inappropriately" paying themselves $216,000. The Albany County district attorney found no basis to prosecute them but said the school district’s "weak internal controls" are what likely led to the problems. The school district filed suits against the administrators, but has since settled with each out of court.
The state comptroller’s office released its audit on Berne-Knox-Westerlo this spring to little fanfare. The June 4 report found no wrongdoing or mismanagement, and Superintendent Steven Schrade commented, "Overall, it was almost a totally clean audit." The audit did point out what it called "weak controls," stating, for example, that district officials could not locate 11 of 38 assets that were tested, valued at $11,000, including computers, VCRs, and televisions.

The business administrator, David Weiser, responded, saying the 11 items were not readily found because the audit was conducted during the summer, when contents of classrooms are emptied and moved to the hallways and other classrooms so the floors can be cleaned.
A recent press release from the comptroller’s office, picked up by the local media, lauded the way Ballston Spa handled its finances. "We had a fuller audit," said Weisz, adding school officials are not allowed to discuss it until the audit is released by the comptroller’s office.
"You are a remarkably generous guy," Peter Golden told Weisz at last Tuesday’s school-board meeting. Board member Golden is also a member of the audit committee.
He described the session with the state auditors not as "spirited" but as "the root canal of committee meetings."
"Without anesthesia," chimed in Colleen O’Connell, another board member who serves on the audit committee.
Golden said there were elements of the audit that have nothing to do with business. "It’s got to do with politics," he said.

Golden credited a small district staff with keeping track of over $80 million annually.

A state-required audit by hired accountants recently gave the district a good report on how it handles its finances. Dorfman-Robbie, Certified Public Accountants, found no material weakness in a 50-page report, and gave the district an unqualified opinion, the highest rating.
"I felt they were being unfair," said Golden of the state comptroller’s auditors.
Weisz took a more philosophic view. He likened it to going to the doctor and asking, "How am I doing"" If the doctor says, "Great, see you in six months," said Weisz, you haven’t learned anything. Weisz said that he looks at the auditing process as an opportunity to learn.

Planner post created
The board approved a new part-time post for a maintenance planner "to increase productivity, saving time on task," as Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders put it. The idea — which Sanders called "a very common-sense approach" — was developed by Clifford Nooney, the new superintendent of building and grounds.
The planner is to be hired from the current maintenance staff and the new post should not cost the district any more money since, said Nooney, productivity should increase. "You would gain that person back plus some," he said.
The planner will assess a job and identify and arrange for the needed parts. He will estimate the time and manpower needed to complete a job and will schedule the work, Sanders said, which "will eliminate many barriers."

The planner will receive a 50-cent increase in his hourly wage, said Sanders, which will come out to roughly $1,000 annually.

Board President Richard Weisz requested a report on how the plan is working, after which the board voted unanimously to create the new post.
Board member Hy Dubowsky, in approving the new job, cited an old adage, "Measure twice, cut once."

Budget input

Just two residents spoke at the annual budget development session, set up for citizen input — Donald Csaposs, a long-time member of the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee, and Karen Keane, new to the committee this year.
"I still don't think it’s enough," Csaposs said of the fall input session. He suggested a roundtable discussion between residents and board members.
His suggestions for the 2008-09 budget were to pay attention to health-care costs for retirees, to look at benefits for part-time employees, and to look at the "pretty hideous" costs for BOCES services.
Keane recommended members of the citizens’ committee be kept to two or three minutes in their closing comments. "Let them put it on YouTube," she said of the long commentaries, which she said were made "for personal or political agendas."

Keane also recommended something be done about the flow of air at the high school and she suggested increasing the number of reading teachers at the high school so that delayed readers, like her son, are assured of getting the help they need.

Meeting questioned
Dubowsky told the board that he was concerned over the "unusual hour" for a board meeting to appoint a new superintendent. The board met on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 8:15 a.m. to name John McGuire as superintendent in a split vote, 6 to 3.
"We strive to be above board," said Dubowsky, stating he had consulted with lawyers about the "illegally constituted" meeting and concluded, "We are potentially at risk of an Article 78 lawsuit," a reference to a suit typically brought by citizens questioning government action.
Duboswky referred to a Sept. 27 Enterprise article which quoted the state’s Open Meetings Law, requiring public notice of meetings and, even in an emergency, requiring the news media to be informed "to the extent practicable."

Superintendent Gregory Aidala said the school district’s lawyer had been consulted. Flyers were posted in school buildings the day before the meeting, he said, and in the future, a notice will be faxed to the media.

Aidala also said the district relies on advice from its attorney rather than the state’s Committee on Open Government, which had told The Enterprise that the 8:15 a.m. Guilderland meeting to appoint a superintendent would be termed a matter of preference rather than an emergency.
"That’s not a binding opinion either," said Golden of the school attorney’s opinion cited by Aidala.
Weisz said the school attorney will make a presentation to the board. As to a potential lawsuit, he said, "We’ll deal with it if it comes up."

Other business

In other business, the board:
— Heard from Golden that he was withdrawing his two motions to require the district to provide the board and community with data from statewide tests, comparing the performance of Guilderland students with those in similar schools, as established by the education department. Golden said he would keep compiling research and would "fine-tune" his motions to bring up again later;

— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress that the Farnsworth Middle School garden project has grown and donated over 2,600 pounds of fresh organic produce to the Capital Region Food Bank. More than 150 students worked in the garden along with community volunteers. More volunteers are sought;

— Heard that Carol Kelly coordinated and hosted the first annual Hurricane Teleconference as part of her Extreme Science Enrichment program at the middle school. Over 30 students did real-time investigating, led by meteorologists from the Weatherbug program. Kathy Perry, the district’s new technology director, helped coordinate the event;

— Learned that Lynn Wells, Farnsworth’s language arts, social studies, and reading supervisor, and Demian Singleton, math and science supervisor, will present a workshop on curriculum mapping at the New York State Middle School Association’s 27th annual conference Oct. 18 to 20 in Saratoga Springs;

— Heard that Guilderland High School music teacher Rae Jean Teeter was honored by Rider University. Elizabeth Allen, a Guilderland graduate now a student at Rider, was named an Andres J. Rider Scholar for being a top student and she named Teeter as the high-school teacher who best prepared her for college;

— Accepted the donation of a bell kit, trombone, and youth drum set from Vivian Price;

— Accepted the donation of a wheelchair from the Guilderland Center Nursing Home; and

— Went into an executive session to discuss a student issue and to review administrators’ performances.