“Each year an independent auditor is competitively selected to review and evaluate the internal controls and operations of our school,” Snowflake School District Business Manager Mark Ollerton advised the governing board Feb. 12.
Ollerton said that this audit is so much better than the one in 2003 where there were 26 findings, as the latest had just one.
One problem is that federal law requires “highly qualified” teachers and it is difficult for rural areas to be in total compliance with the requirement.
District officials will continue to encourage teachers to take the test and become highly qualified, and will continue to recruit teachers who are highly qualified. “We’ll continue to work hard at that, and, hopefully, that will not be a finding,” said Ollerton.
He explained that the auditors complete a compliance questionnaire that holds the district accountable retroactively. The district had to show proof of Arizona residency, which was a finding because of a change. Ollerton explained that he has developed an internal procedure, but auditors found this in the 2013 audit and because they just made the corrections it was found in the 2014 audit. Ollerton said it takes about three years for the change to be complete.
“That’s tremendous,” he said of the one finding in the U.S. Compliance Questionnaire. “It speaks a lot to the school board, to staff, and it should speak to the public about how much we care about the funds that come into the district, and how they are handled.”
The audit was approved as part of the consent agenda.
In other business, the governing board approved out-of-state travel for administration to Utah to attend Career Fair.
“We’re better prepared this year and, hopefully, we will attract some talent,” said Taylor Elementary School Principal Jeremy Hatch, who attended last year. It was the first year they attended and so they learned a lot about what they need to have at the career fair. Also attending were Ron Tenney and Superintendent Hollis Merrell.
Merrell said that last year they had some candidates interested in teaching in the district, but by the time they were official, several had already signed contracts elsewhere.
Tenney noted that attending this fair helps with the comprehensive audit and shows the state that they are looking for highly qualified teachers.
Merrell advised the board that this effort is grant funded.
