Northern Adirondack Central School District – Leave Accruals (2020M-50)

Issued Date

September 25, 2020

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Audit Objective

Determine whether the District accurately maintains employee leave records.

Key Findings

Employees are allowed to earn vacation leave accruals that exceed the amount allowed in Board-approved contracts.
Errors occurred in the leave records maintained for 24 of the 33 (73 percent) employees tested.
The District overpaid seven employees $29,686 for unused leave accruals.

Key Recommendations

Ensure employees do not use leave time they are not entitled to.
Update accrual balances to reflect Board-approved contracts.
Discuss overpayments with the District’s legal counsel and take appropriate action to recover funds.

Except as specified in Appendix A, District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to take corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in the District’s response letter.

Background

The Northern Adirondack Central School District (District) serves the Towns of Altona, Beekmantown, Chazy, Clinton, Dannemora, Ellenburg, Mooers and Saranac in Clinton County and the Town of Bellmont in Franklin County.

The seven-member Board of Education (Board) is responsible for the general management and control of the District’s financial and educational affairs. The Superintendent of Schools (Superintendent) is the District’s chief executive officer and is responsible for budget development and, along with other administrative staff, its day-to-day management. The Business Executive oversees the business office staff including the payroll clerk. The payroll clerk is responsible for updating accrual balances when they are earned and used.

Quick Facts
Enrollment	827
Employees	137
2018-19 Payroll Expenditures	$9,456,936
2019-20 Appropriations	$22,572,125

Audit Period

July 1, 2017 – October 31, 2019