[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether student enrollment and billings to school districts of residence are accurate and supported.

Key Findings

• School officials did not review tuition billing prepared by the School’s contracted accounting firm. An incorrect formula was used to calculate State aid attributable to special education students, resulting in one district of residence being overbilled by more than $161,000 in the 2018-19 school year.
• School officials did not obtain the required residency documentation for 52 out of 55 students in our audit sample.

Key Recommendations

• Periodically review tuition bills to ensure the billings have been calculated correctly.
• Adopt a written policy and prepare and enforce written procedures for students’ proof of residency that include a provision to periodically update and verify the proof of residence.

School officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on an issue raised in the School’s response.