A state audit of the DeKalb County School District’s finances found lingering problems with how it handles financial information and federal funding.
The 105-page audit spans the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022; the district just entered fiscal year 2024. It pointed out seven “significant deficiencies” — the state’s term for lower-level issues that need to be addressed by district leaders.
Most of the problems have to do with the district’s delayed transition to a new financial system, employee compensation and the way the district is spending federal pandemic aid. The same problems were identified in the audit that came out last year about the fiscal year ending in June 2021.
The state conducts an annual audit of each school district. DeKalb did not disagree with any of the findings.
The state’s third-largest school system has come to be characterized by financial woes. Cheryl Watson-Harris was fired from her role as superintendent last year in part because of the financial problems highlighted by state auditors.
One challenge is DeKalb has been in the process of transitioning to a new computer system to handle its financial and human resources information since 2016. Tyler Technologies’ Munis system was originally expected to be fully functional by 2019. In 2020, that date was pushed to 2022. Today, it is partially functional for processing work orders and purchase orders, but so is the district’s old system. The original budget for the project was $12.7 million, but in 2020 the district opted to put in another $5.5 million.
State auditors have noted that the project lacks a manager and a cutoff date. With the continued delays, the district is risking accounting errors, wasted funds and employee turnover, the auditors noted.
Last year, then-Chief Financial Officer Charles Burbridge stated the estimated completion date for the transfer would be March 2023. The estimated completion date is now listed as sometime in the next year.
“(The district) has hired a dedicated project manager to oversee the implementation,” said newly hired Chief Financial Officer Byron Schueneman in an emailed statement. “While there is not currently a ‘go-live’ date, the team meets several times a week and is making steady progress.”
The audit was first reported by Decaturish.
Part of the problems with the new financial system stem from turnover in leadership positions, district staff said in 2020. State auditors also blamed staff turnover for accounting errors and employees being over- or under-paid, in some cases by thousands of dollars. Last year’s audit also pointed out problems with employee pay.
The state also questioned the use of more than $1 million in federal pandemic aid on “nonpersonal services,” after finding situations where the district violated state or federal guidance in how the money was used or inaccurately recorded how much funding was used. Last year, the state’s audit questioned almost $1 million in spending on employee compensation for the same reasons.
District officials told auditors last year that they misunderstood “ambiguous” early guidance about how to spend the money. The district has recently expanded its grant management staff, adjusted its processes and provided additional training to staff to ensure compliance with all federal programs, Schueneman said.
The district is paying up to $877,000 to conduct a separate audit by a third party that examines how it’s spent federal pandemic aid. The first draft of that audit is expected to be completed in November, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found via an open records request.
“Our professional DCSD finance staff is fully aware and deeply committed to the importance of robust transparency and accountability in responsibly managing our revenue and expenditures,” Schueneman stated. “Without question, our duty remains hyper-focused on maximizing our efficiencies as we serve the best interests of our staff, families and community partners.”
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