AZ Auditor General's Report on Classroom Dollar Spending

The Arizona Office of the Auditor General recently released a report on the percentage of dollar spent on classroom costs. You can look up specific school districts and see how they compare to the national average. There is also information how many schools are in the district, the number of students in said district and the district's ranking within the 239 state school districts.

Comparative information includes the student/teacher ratio, the average teacher's salary, and a teacher's average years experience.

Interesting reading from the report:

• In fiscal year 2007, Arizona’s state-wide percentage of dollars spent in the classroom decreased for the third consecutive year to 57.9 percent and remains more than 3 percentage points below the national average. More than half of the school districts’ classroom dollar percentages declined in 2007, but the biggest impact on the state average came from declines in the very large districts. With the infusion over the past several years of significant state-provided resources largely directed to the classroom, the State’s classroom dollar percentage could have been higher, but districts appear to be using these monies to supplant other monies, a violation of A.R.S. §15-977.

• Compared with the national average, Arizona districts spent a larger portion of their current dollars on student support services, plant operation and maintenance, and food service. However, on a positive note, Arizona districts spent much less on administration.

New Auditor General Report on Colorado City School District

While in PHX last week I recieved a copy of a letter dated July 31, 2007 sent to Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, from Debra Davenport, AZ Auditor General regarding the latest financial status of the Colorado City Unified School District No.14. The letter accompanied a report issued by the Auditor General's office on July, 26, 2007. (By clicking on the title of this post you can access the report on the Auditor General's website.)

Recommendations of the Auditor General's office include the following:

1. The District should improve its financial condition.
2. The District should maintain conflict of interest files.
3. The District should improve controls over purchasing and expenditures.
4. The District should maintain accurate capital assests and stewardship lists.
5. The District's controls over cash receipts and bank acconts should be strenghtened.
6. The District should maintain acurate student attendance records.
7. The District's financial information should be accurately maintained and reported.

These recommendations are based on the following concerns:

1. The District's auditors expressed substantial doubt about the District's ability to continue its operations.
2. The District did not document conflicts of intrest for employees.
3. The District did not always follow competitive purchasing requirements, and therefore, could not ensure it received the best value for the public monies it spent. (CCUD received over $5.1 Million of taxpayer dollars in fiscal year 2006.)
4. The District did not maintain complete complete and accurate capital assets and stewardship lists, and did not always identify items as district property to protect them from loss or theft.
5. Poor cash controls left district and student monies susceptible to loss, theft, or misuse.
6. The District did not always record partial-day attendance correctly, and as a result, may not have received the proper amount of funding.
7. The District did not ensure the accuracy of its cash balances since its records were not reconciled to the County Treasurer's records.

Now, all of this sounds serious, and, well, it is but I have confidence in Peter Davis. Mr Davis, a CPA and owner of Simons Consulting in Phoenix is the receiver hired in December 2005. Davis was charged with bringing the district back into compliance of guidelines prescribed by Arizona law. Mr. Davis is a man of action. Sweeping changes followed his hiring as cell phones, credit cards, and even vehicles were taken away from district staff. He brought new staff aboard, too. I have met Mr. Davis during his many visits to the Capitol and we have spoken at length about the situation he faces so when I saw this report I gave him a call. Davis assures me that all issues mentioned in the Auditor General's report are being recitfied and his response to the report will be forthcoming, probably sometime next week. Look for a paraphrased version of it here.