[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether Salmon River Central School District (District) officials accurately paid tuition for foster care students enrolled at other school districts.

Key Findings

District officials did not accurately pay tuition for foster care students enrolled care students enrolled at other school districts.

• Officials made payment errors for 14 (45 percent) of 31 foster care students who were enrolled at other school districts during the 2018-19 through 2021-22 school years. The District overpaid tuition by $58,277 for 11 foster care students and underpaid tuition by $1,007 for three foster care students.
• Officials did not provide oversight for or monitor foster care student tuition payments, which resulted in over- and underpayments.

Key Recommendations

• Provide oversight to ensure that tuition bills have adequate supporting documentation and are accurately calculated before issuing payments.
• Consult with the District’s legal counsel concerning options available for recovering previous overpayments and compensating for identified underpayments.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated, or indicated they planned to initiate, corrective action.