Corrective Action Plan approved by RCS BOE

The Board of Education on Monday approved a corrective action plan for the state Comptroller’s Office audit.

The 15-point plan spells out actions already taken and a timeline for actions to be taken to address the recommendations of the state audit, which was completed and made public in July.

Some of the 15 actions to be taken in the coming months, or already taken include:

• The district administration has drafted regulations, procedures and forms to ensure compliance with RCS’ purchasing policies and regulations governing competitive bidding. The draft proposal sets dollar thresholds for competitive bidding.
• Utilization of the newly created Human Resources Administrator post to improve documentation of employee use of paid leave time as well as implementation of revisions to the way employees call in sick. Those revisions will require leave request forms to be completed by every employee.
• The Board of Education approved substitute pay rates for bus drivers and non-certified teaching assistants on Monday. The board approved substitute pay rates for other employees in August.
• Superintendent Vicki Wright and the Business Office will develop a process ensuring direct review of all time records and summary sheets and a recommendation will be brought to the board in December.
• The Board of Education adopted a use of credit card policy in March, 2006 and during the state audit recalled all district credit cards from employees. Authorized credit cards are now stored in a business office safe; unauthorized cards have been cancelled and destroyed.
• A first reading of a draft policy requiring Board of Education approval of superintendent attendance at conferences or meetings that are outside of the normal workday and incur registration, travel or lodging expenses was read at Monday’s meeting, as was a policy for reimbursing superintendent expenses.
• A claims auditor was hired during the 2005-06 school year to conduct a proper and thorough review of claims. The claims auditor works once a week to review all warrants and to ensure they have proper documentation for processing. During this school year, the claims auditor will prepare a brief written summary of his finding and will present the summary to the Superintendent for immediate corrective action.
• Policies and procedures that address online banking went to the board at Monday’s meeting.

While the plan calls for the hiring of an assistant business administrator, the board’s approval on Monday specifically stated that it is not authorizing at this time the hiring of any additional staff.

Board members said the plan brings new accountability requirements to the district administration.

“This plan has got to be put into place if we are going to hold this administration accountable. …If we don’t move forward tonight, we as a board have failed to do our job,” board member Scott Hughes said prior to the board’s approval of the plan.