State Representatives Matt Gress (R-Phoenix) and Beverly Pingerelli (R-Peoria) announced Wednesday that they are seeking answers from the Gadsden Elementary School District (GESD) after it did not implement some financial accountability measures recommended by the state.
“Allowing this practice to continue some 30 months after they were caught is troubling,” said Gress (pictured above, right) and Pingerelli (pictured above, left) in a joint statement. “The audits from the Arizona Auditor General are consequential reviews and are not to be mocked with inaction. These audits are one of the few independent tools the Legislature has to measure efficiency, effectiveness, and legal compliance in the state’s largest annual investment, K-12 education. The Legislature, and the public, are due answers from Gadsden Elementary.”
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE🚨
House Audit and Education Chairs Question Yuma Area School District’s Audit Failures.
“The audits from the Arizona Auditor General are consequential reviews and are not to be mocked with inaction,” said Representatives @MatthewGress & @BevPingerelli.… pic.twitter.com/6mXoipExx9
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) April 12, 2023
The Arizona Sun Times reached out to the GESD School Board for a response but did not hear back before press time.
The issue stemmed from a 2020 school district performance audit report from the Arizona Auditor General (AAG). The AAG aims to provide “independent and impartial information” and recommendations to improve local government entities.
The report first revealed that the district paid hourly employees over school breaks and holidays when they did not work or submit time sheets. There was no documentation showing the board had approved these payments. Additionally, the AAG shared that the district used timesheet policies that potentially let employees falsify their hours and pay. For example, in 2018, the district had two payroll employees, one for full-time and the other for part-time employees. These employees were responsible for updating employee payrates and then processing the payrolls. The AAG said this could allow these employees to alter their own deductions for financial benefits.
Furthermore, the AAG found that the district had violated Arizona’s open meeting law by hosting a board meeting at a California resort. The district admitted to the general that the meeting was held out of state to “limit interruptions from the public.” It cost the district over $16,000 in travel expenses to hold the meeting. Further investigations revealed that the GESD had spent over $65,000 to host board meetings in California since the fiscal year 2015.
The AAG also found the district had inadequate oversight of its transportation program. To fix these errors, the general gave 13 recommendations for the GESD to adopt.
Nearly three years later, the AAG released its 30-month follow-up report, revealing that the district had implemented six suggestions. The adopted policies revolve around the board meetings and transportation program. For example, all in-person meetings are now held in the GESD, and the district has begun using computer software to track the certification requirements of bus drivers.
However, none of the recommendations relating to employee payments were adopted, which the legislators took issue with. One suggestion was to ensure a separation in responsibilities so that the same employee responsible for updating payrates is not also responsible for payroll processing. However, as of 2022, the AAG said that, while the district has adopted a new accounting system, employees with access to payroll also had “broad access” to “initiate and complete payroll transactions without another employee reviewing and approving the transactions.”
In 2021, the AAG reported that one of the district’s payroll specialists used her access to the system to prevent healthcare premiums from being deducted from her pay, despite remaining on the system.
Gress and Pingerelli wrote they found it concerning that the district has yet to implement a separation of payment responsibilities, despite this history. In their letter, they asked the GESD to explain why they have not implemented the recommendation, if they have a different policy in mind, or if the district believes state law does not require it to make the change.
The lawmakers asked for answers before the next Joint Legislative Audit Committee meeting, which will likely occur in May.
A 2020 Arizona Auditor General audit found several shocking findings on Gadsden Elementary, a Yuma area school district. As Chair of the Audit Committee, I expected these issues would be fixed by their 30-month review.
They were not. 1/
— Matt Gress (@MatthewGress) April 12, 2023
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Matt Gress” by Matt Gress.
