Board of Education approves hiring of firm for forensic audit
By Lauren Parker-Gill, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville Area School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Cathy Taschner discusses the process for a forensic audit of the district’s finances during Tuesday’s special board meeting.
COATESVILLE – Superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner and the board of directors of the Coatesville Area School District continued to push forward with their plans for change at last Tuesday’s committee/special board meeting by unanimously setting a plan in motion to resolve unauthorized pay raises under the previous administration and also voting to conduct the first phase of a forensic audit of the business office.
Certain administrators received pay increases, without school board approval each school year from 2009 – 2010 through 2013 – 2014. A handout given to the public at the meeting, carefully outlined plans to recover funds that were not in accordance with Act 93, which governs employment terms for school district administrative employees.
According to that handout, Taschner will provide the school board members with a report that identifies all past and current administrators who were granted pay increases without board approval, along with a calculation of the amount of overpayments for each individual. As of July 1, 2015, each current employee identified in that report will be paid the salary they would have received for the 2015 – 2016 school year, minus the unauthorized increases.
Each employee this affects will have the opportunity to discuss this reduction or correct any misinformation the superintendent may have. Any person who believes their salary reduction is a demotion, in accordance with Section 1151 of the Public School Code, will be given the right to a school board hearing within 10 calendar days of receiving notification of their salary adjustment. For those who received unauthorized increases and are no longer with the district, they will be contacted and given the opportunity to work out a payback schedule or file an appeal within 10 days of being notified.
“The initial estimate of savings is approximately $385,000.” Taschner said in an email. “This resolution is yet another step in our work to rectify issues of the past and to keep the district moving forward.”
Board of Education member Ann Wurtz expains the plan to seek to recover unauthorized pay raises for some of the district’s administrators.
School board member Ann Wuertz explained the board’s decision-making process before the official vote.
“This was not an easy decision,” she said. “This was a difficult decision but as a member of this board, I am committed to making things right for the betterment of the entire district. We teach our children that there are consequences to actions and decisions that we make and adults are not immune to that. My hope is that those who are impacted by this will learn from this. And as we move forward as a district, we’ll be able to set that example for the future choices that they make.”
East Fallowfield resident John Maffei expressed gratitude to the teachers and staff that continued to support the district and its students during the recent crisis.
East Fallowfield resident John Maffei took the opportunity during public comment to applaud teachers and staff that has stayed in light of what was happening under the previous administration.
“To all the teachers that stayed in the district and saw these things happening to them and still stayed here, thank you,” he said.
The board of school directors also approved the first phase of a forensic audit of the business office to be performed by EisnerAmper, not to exceed $20,000, pending contractual review and approval by the solicitor. The firm will look at wire transfers, bond funds, misappropriation or misuse of title funds, payroll and the facilities department. They will start with a broad scope and based on those findings, narrow down the investigation pending board approval. EisnerAmper is also skilled at developing safeguards in any areas they find so these things will not happen again.
“They are prepared and ready to do the work.” said Taschner.
School board vice president Stuart Deets agreed with that assessment.
“EisnerAmper is the auditing firm that worked on the Bensalem investigation, which lead to multiple convictions and jail time,” Deets said. “They have specific experience and we look to take advantage of that. We need this investigation. We need to clean it up before we can move on.”
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) approached the district with concerns of inequities in the sports programs within the CASD. Specifically regarding staffing with coaches, volunteer coaches and how they were distributed between boys and girls teams.
This raised several questions: Are finances being allocated equally between girls’ sports and boys sports from the booster clubs? Is there travel equity for boys and girls athletic teams? Are there specialized camps for both boys’ sports and girls’ sports? The district is being compliant and has asked the booster clubs to present their information to the school board for review by the end of the summer. There is no record of any full, complete auditing of the booster policies or of the booster clubs funds and accounts.
“This is not a criticism of the booster cubs, I want to be clear. They have submitted the paper work; I don’t believe the district has ever formally looked at that paperwork in its totality to compare and contrast…to see if there are inequities.” Taschner stated.
The district has until November to present their findings and revisions, if any, to the OCR. The OCR will then monitor the district for the next two years.
On the heels of Keith Davis’ retirement, the school board approved a temporary contract with Aramark, pending the solicitor’s approval, to manage energy, facilities and custodians.
“It’s another way in which the district is trying to continue to save money.” Taschner said.
Of note: There will be another special board meeting to be held July 23 at 7 p.m. This is to approve hiring 3 administrative positions and address any other items that may come up.
