Purpose

To determine whether the costs reported by Bilinguals Inc. (Bilinguals) on its Consolidated Fiscal Reports (CFRs) were calculated properly, documented adequately, and allowable pursuant to the State Education Department's (SED) Reimbursable Cost Manual (Manual). Our audit covered the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2011.

Background

Bilinguals provides Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) services and Preschool Integrated Special Education Services (collectively referred to as the Programs) to children residing in New York City as well as Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. Pursuant to the State Education Law, SED establishes reimbursement rates for special education providers based on the financial information reported in their CFRs. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2011, Bilinguals' Programs reported a total of $13.3 million in reimbursable costs.

Key Findings

We identified $875,729 in non-reimbursable costs, including:

• $243,950 in compensation paid to 17 individuals who did not provide services to the Programs during the audit period; $44,277 in improperly allocated personal service costs; $27,329 in excessive compensation paid to the Executive Director (ED) and the Assistant Executive Director (AED); and $218,681 in bonus payments that did not comply with Manual guidelines;
• $29,722 paid for the personal benefit of Bilinguals officials and staff, including but not limited to, the costs for a Manhattan apartment, cable television, and three vehicles for the ED and AED; and $15,895 paid for gift cards, clocks, parties, and funeral expenses (for a Billinguals employee); and
• $205,695 paid for international recruitment expenses for unqualified individuals and for individuals who did not come to work for the Programs.

Key Recommendations

To SED:

• Review the recommended disallowances, adjust Bilinguals' CFRs, and revise Bilinguals' tuition reimbursement rates, as appropriate.
• Work with Bilinguals officials to help ensure their proper reporting of reimbursable costs.

To Bilinguals:

• Ensure that reimbursable costs reported on the CFRs comply with Manual requirements.

Other Related Audits/Reports of Interest

State Education Department: Bilingual SEIT & Preschool, Inc. - Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2011-S-13)
State Education Department: IncludED Educational Services, Inc. - Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2010-S-59)