Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2008-2009
Response to Grand Jury Report Dated June 9, 2009
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F5, F6
Findings 5 findings
F1
Page 2
Community colleges and K-12 boards of trustees are responsible for inventory control. However, after interviewing all board of trustee presidents it was evident they were unaware of their obligations under the law. Response to Findin2 1: Agree with first sentence. Disagree that the District board president during the relevant investigation period was unaware that the District was responsible for inventory control. The District lacks insufficient knowledge and information toprovide a response to the second sentence as to school districts other than the East Side Union High School District.
F2
Page 3
No trustees or superintendents/chancellors have been trained in inventory control. Inventory control training for board members and superintendents isnot mandated by the State, resulting in alack of familiarity and inconsistent application of inventory requirements of many districts. Response to Finding 2: Agree that inventory control training for board members and superintendents isnot mandated by the State, and that the Governing Board and the Superintendent ofthe District have not been trained in inventory control. The District lacks sufficient knowledge and information to respond as to the practices of any other district.
F3
Page 3
All district superintendents, chancellors and district staff report incomplete inventory information to their boards. This results in lack of knowledge about the value and size of their inventory. Response to Finding 3: Agree that for the 2008/2009 school year the District Administration did not provide any inventory information to its Governing Board. The District does not have knowledge or information about the practices of other school districts in the in Santa Clara County. RECO~IEJ'oj'DATION 3: All boards of trustees should require apresentation onthe results of their districts' biennial inventory, including total value, variances resulting from reconciliation between past and current inventories and proposed plan to resolve discrepancies. Honorable Judge Jamie Jacobs-May Presiding Judge Santa Clara County Superior Court Re: Response to Grand Jury Report Dated June 9,2009 September 10,2009 Response to Recommendation 3: Agree. The District will implement adistrict-wide physical inventory during the 2009-10 school year and thereafter as required by law. A report will be generated and presented to the Board. The report will include total value, variances resulting from the reconciliation between previous and current inventory and aplan addressing the process in which the discrepancies, if any, will be addressed. The District's Board Policies will be modified and/or amended, and Administrative Regulations adopted, that will relate to variances resulting from reconciliation between past and current contentions and resolving discrepancies will be updated and presented to the Superintendent and Board inthe 2009-10 school year.
F4
Page 4
With the exception of Santa Clara Unified and Los Gatos Unified School District, allK-12 districts failed to understand the need toreconcile inventories from previous years tothe latest inventory update. Without reconciliation, the opportunity to: identify lost, missing or stolen items, take preventive measures, and obtain timely reimbursement may be lost. Response toFindin2 4: Agree that the District has not reconciled inventories from previous years to the latest inventory update. The District does not have knowledge or information about other districts' practices in Santa Clara County.
F7
Page 6
There is apotential for abuse in K-8 and K-12 districts when those who report to superintendents approve credit card transactions and purchase orders made by their superintendent. Response to Findin2 7: Disagree that this is a finding of fact; Agree that this isa conclusion drawn by the Grand Jury. Agree that there is apotential for abuse under such circumstances.
Recommendations 4
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R1Page 2Trustees should review and be knowledgeable of Education Code section 35168 for K-12 and Education Code section 81600 for community colleges to ensure complete implementation.
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R2Page 3All Santa Clara County school board of trustees and superintendents/chancellors should be required to review and understand Education Code section 35168 and section 81600 and BA1.\1 requirements for inventory control. For K-12 districts, the Santa Clara County Office of Education ("SCCOE") should take the lead in providing comprehensive training on inventory control, in conjunction with the release of the new inventory tracking module within Quintessential Software Systems ("QSS") spearheaded by the SCCOE.
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R4Page 4All K-12 school districts should reconcile the most current, full inventory with prior inventories, to indentify missing items and potential losses/thefts. The results will enable districts to implement safeguards to prevent future losses.
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R7Page 6To strengthen internal controls and ensure fiscal accountability, purchases made bythe K-8 and K-12 superintendents should be approved by the respective boards of trustees prior to purchase. In the event an immediate purchase is required, post-approval by the board of trustees would ensure no conflicts of interest or abuses occur. Expenditures should be presented separately from the board of trustee's consent calendar to ensure proper scrutiny. Credit card statements and a listing of disbursements should be provided to the board of trustees for approval.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
East Side Union High School District
School District