Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the District’s financial condition and claims auditing function for the period July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014.

Background

The Bay Shore Union Free School District is located in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County. The District, which is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education, operates seven schools with approximately 5,860 students. Budgeted general fund appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year totaled approximately $143.9 million.

Key Findings

• Budgets from 2010-11 through 2012-13 relied on significant amounts of appropriated fund balance and reserves to finance operations, and unrestricted fund balance was less than $320,000 as of June 30, 2013.
• District officials have not developed a multiyear financial plan.
• The claims auditor did not report to the Board or prepare written reports for the Board showing the results of claims audits.

Key Recommendations

• Carefully consider the amount of fund balance available to appropriate to fund future budgets and retain a reasonable amount of unrestricted fund balance to address unanticipated needs and provide necessary cash flow for operations.
• Develop, implement and annually update a multiyear financial plan.
• Adopt a policy that requires the claims auditor to report the claims audit findings directly to the Board on a regular basis.