Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the District’s fund balance for the period July 1, 2014 through March 1, 2016.

Background

The Malverne Union Free School District (District) is located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County. The District, which operates four schools with approximately 1,700 students, is governed by a five-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $53.5 million.

Key Findings

• District officials adopted overly conservative budgets that, as a result, included the use of fund balance that was not needed.
• The unemployment insurance reserve had a balance of $881,900, which could fund almost 28 years of unemployment expenditures.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt budgets with more realistic expenditure estimates based on prior years’ actual results and anticipated operations.
• Review the unemployment insurance reserve balance and transfer excess funds to fund balance or other reserves.