Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the School’s fingerprinting practices for the period July 1, 2011 through August 5, 2013.

Background

The True North Rochester Preparatory Charter School – West Campus, located in the City of Rochester, is governed by the Board of Trustees (Board) which comprises nine members. The School’s operating expenses for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 were approximately $1.5 million.

Key Finding

• The School did not consistently comply with the Law and guidance regarding fingerprint-supported criminal background checks. The School has a policy entitled "Fingerprint Process" in their Onboarding Guide, which stated that "All school employees must be fingerprinted before they are authorized to work in a school in New York State." We requested documentation to support that all adults working on site have been properly fingerprinted. Two of the 25 workers tested did not have complete background checks performed prior to working at the School. For one worker, School officials did not obtain clearance specifically for their School. A School official told us that because the worker was previously cleared at another charter school, School officials believed they did not have to obtain clearance. In addition, the former CEO did not have fingerprint records on file with OSPRA at the time of our testing. Fingerprint records were obtained subsequent to our request and we were provided documentation that on June 14, 2013 the former CEO’s fingerprints were filed with OSPRA and cleared.

Key Recommendation

• Ensure that officials notify OSPRA and obtain and maintain all necessary documentation for the required fingerprint-supported criminal background checks on persons required to be fingerprinted.