Annual Audit Finds Errors In Transporation Numbers Mead School District Over-Funded During ‘98-‘99 Due To Inaccuracies
Washington State’s recent annual audit of the Mead School District came back sparkling, save for one blemish.
Auditors determined that transportation employees inaccurately reported student transportation numbers and falsified records during the audit period, which ran from Sept. 1, 1998 to Aug. 31, 1999.
The inaccuracies resulted in Mead’s transportation system being over-funded by $22,602.69 - an amount that will likely be deducted from this year’s state allocation.
The district receives state funding based on the number of students transported and the distance they travel. For the 1998-1999 school year, that amount was $1,158,706.
District officials said they were shocked by the finding - especially since investigations found no people who could be held responsible, or any motivation for such actions.
“I don’t know why someone would do this, except for personal gain, but no one could have known what it would result in,” said Mead transportation director Mary Barker. “We did a thorough investigation, but didn’t come up with any wonderful conclusion.”
Officials also said the altered records were a one-year occurrence and that several measures are in place to make sure it never happens again.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction establishes the rules for counting and documenting students who ride the bus. For example, OSPI requires each bus driver to record, in ink, the number of students boarding the bus at each stop for five consecutive days in the fall.
Auditors found that ridership counts were falsified on 15 of Mead’s 143 school bus route count sheets, and possibly on 11 others. “Due to the number of employees involved in the reporting process and the lack of internal controls, it was not possible to fix responsibility to a specific individual,” the audit report stated. Also, six of the forms had been completed in pencil.
When presented with the information, district officials asked auditors to help them determine who was responsible for the falsifications, but could find no one.
Auditors also examined records for the previous and current years, but found inaccuracies only for the 1998-99 year.
Baker said that the district has “gone to a good deal of effort to clearly write instructions for the drivers.”
Corrections to rider counts must now be initialed, and the transportation department has made sure drivers each have a clipboard and pen on board.
“Now, this information is kept under lock and key. We note who is responsible for what, so people can be held accountable,” Baker said. “I feel comfortable nothing like that can happen again.”