No more band aids for GUSD
The definition of bandaid is “: offering, making use of, or serving as a temporary or expedient remedy or solution” and according to Dr. Don Nelson, acting Chief Administrative Officer for the Globe Unified School District the most recent 90-Day Letter from the State Auditor General’s office is a clear signal that the bandaid solutions of the past have proven ineffective in actually solving problem(s) outlined in previous letters.
The recent letter from the State Auditor General’s office dated Dec 15th refers to “significant deficiencies in internal controls that indicate the District has not complied with USFR (Uniform System of Financial Records) for the school year ending June 2008. GlobeUSD_12-09(2)
The School Board consisting of Jacque Cline Griffin,Frankie Dalmolin, Cayci Vucksanovich, Anna Harmon and Dale Fletcher discuss the presentation by Nelson *The State has given the District 90 days (counting down from Dec 15th...so we're now at about 60 days) to correct the issues before an on-site visit by State officials.
In the letter, the State outlines multiple issues with procurement and tracking student attendance. Nelson explained that in 2004 the District also received a 90-day letter outlining similar problems and that those problems were addressed with a “bandaid”. Additional letters from the State which cited problems with improperly tracking assets, ordering goods and services without purchase orders, and mis-reporting student attendance have further been addressed with stop-gap measures which failed to be internalized by the overall District.
“The time for band-aide solutions is over,” says Nelson. If the District doesn’t identify, institute and carry out significant changes in its purchasing and personnel record-keeping they will be flirting with the very real possibility of being taken over by the State.
It appears the District has been over inflating attendance figures for some time. That means they have received more money from the State than was due to the District. “Someone is going to want some money back.” says Nelson.
Dr. Ron Nelson, Chief Administrative Officer for GUSD, addresses the Board on Wednesday night regarding the most recent 90-Day letter from the State Auditor General. It pertains to the school year ending June 2008, and cites deficiencies in both procurement and personnel records.
Nelson spent a a good deal of time at the podium answering questions by the Board and talking about examples. IE: If you are going on a trip, you can’t just run in and pull $800 from the revolving fund. When we send teachers and administrators on trips we will know in advance what the rooms and conference costs will be. We will beable to send a check with them and they can pay for it when they check in.”
Board President, Cayci Vuksanovich acknowledged the problems which Nelson identified and said “…other schools have managed to work with these guidelines successfully. So there is no reason why we shouldn’t beable to as well.”
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