Audit Finds Problems In Cheney District Teachers’ Experience Figured Incorrectly

Cheney School District employees made personal calls on cellular phones and received free rent for their privately operated summer sports camps, according to a state audit.

In addition, some teachers’ years of experience were figured incorrectly and there was no proof of years of experience on file for other teachers.

Teachers’ salaries increase based on their years of experience.

Last year, similar mistakes cost the Kent School District on the West Side $1.2 million in overpayments to teachers. The district had to reimburse the state superintendent’s office after an internal audit.

The Cheney district has not yet gone through all of its employee files and could not say whether any teachers are being overpaid or underpaid.

The district will write a cellular phone policy and correct all other problems, said Superintendent Phil Snowdon.

Auditors never before had questioned the way the district handles summer sports camps, Snowdon said. Coaches typically run the camps without official district sponsorship.

The district waived a $20-per-hour gym rental fee in exchange for chores such as scrubbing lockers. The district also allowed the coaches to use student lists and nonprofit postal rates, which the audit mentioned as violations.

The annual state audit turned up eight areas of violations.

“All were significant enough for us to point out, but on a big scale they’re not that major,” said state Auditor Brian Sonntag.

Sonntag’s office is putting more emphasis on “areas of higher risk,” including student government accounts and petty cash controls, in addition to its regular audits of financial statements, he said.

Making sure school districts and other government entities are following rules can prevent large problems later, Sonntag said.

Among the auditor’s Cheney findings:

Payments from Associated Student Body accounts were made without the approval of student officers.

The district had no written policy on cellular phone use. Auditors found records of calls made to employees’ homes from cellular phones. Neither the district nor the auditor’s office could say how many instances were found.

The district misused a $25,000 checking account by purchasing supplies and office equipment from it, bypassing normal purchasing controls.

, DataTimes