Audit points to problems at state Dept of Ed

A legislative audit has identified serious management problems in the office of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, problems that Luna didn’t dispute and says now have been corrected. They ranged from improper accounting to sensitive personal information in teacher certification files being stored in unsecured boxes under employees’ desks. “They’ve taken care of that – they consider it closed, as do we,” said legislative audit division manager Don Berg.

The audit found that $766,012 in salaries and wages for the special education division of the Department of Education were charged to a federal grant without providing any documentation on what work was done and for which programs. The lack of detailed reporting “could result in federal penalties and sanctions,” the audit warned. Luna’s office worked with the auditors to develop the appropriate reporting. “The department implemented policies and procedures to address the issue and has scheduled quarterly reviews of federal time reporting,” according to the agency’s response to the audit.

The audit also found that nearly $4.9 million in interest wasn’t credited to the public education stabilization fund from February to December of 2007. A January 2008 adjustment corrected that, “but we are concerned that the department’s financial monitoring procedures are incomplete or not properly followed,” the audit stated. The department responded that it’ll correct the problem, and may seek clarifying legislation.

Finally, the audit identified problems with the handling of sensitive teacher certification information. The department said it’s changed its system for handling the documents and educated employees on “proper handling of sensitive documents,” and said, “The department considers this issue to be resolved.”

Luna’s spokeswoman, Melissa McGrath, said, “Superintendent Luna is constantly working to improve the operations at the State Department of Education to ensure we are providing the best service possible to the customers of education. A recent legislative audit pointed out some areas in which the State Department of Education needed to improve. We took those audit findings seriously and are happy we were able to address each area immediately.”