Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 21, 1994                   TAG: 9409230074
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOL PANEL TOLD AUDIT IMPRACTICAL

"There was such a lack of records that I didn't think it would warrant the time that would have been necessary to try to reconstruct them," said Bob Bird, the city's internal auditor.

The alternative education program did not use the same accounting system that is used for activity funds for all city schools.

Bird said that the only available records were check registers, bank statements, invoices for purchases and listings of cash receipts for a major field trip.

One of the irregularities Bird said he found was a $500 reimbursement to an individual who supposedly had helped pay for summer meals for students. In fact, though, the unnamed individual had not helped pay for any meals, Bird said.

He also found that a few alternative education students and a staff member had made a field trip to London. That originally had aroused some suspicions, but Bird said there was apparently nothing amiss about the journey. The students and staff raised the money to pay for the trip.

Bird's findings confirm the financial irregularities in the alternative education program that were cited in a recent consultants' report.

His comments were included in his annual report on the school activity funds for the city's 29 schools. Several schools failed to comply with all accounting and auditing procedures, but they had financial records for their transactions.

On Tuesday, Superintendent Wayne Harris told the School Board's Audit Committee that steps have been take to correct the problems cited by Bird.

Harris said the new leaders of the alternative education program have been told they will be held to the same financial accountability as all other schools.

Michael McIntosh is new administrator of the program and Rebecca Sears is curriculum supervisor. They replaced William Hackley, who retired, and George Franklin, who was not rehired.

Franklin could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but he has denied any wrongdoing, saying he followed the financial procedures that were mandated by school administrators.

Alternative education has been revamped and about half of the staff has been replaced.

Clubert Poff, chairman of the Audit Committee, said Bird's report will be forwarded to the School Board. He said the committee will take no further action now that Harris has taken steps to correct the problems in alternative education.

John Saunders, an audit committee member, said there has been a history of the alternative education program having unsupervised accounts and failing to comply with proper accounting procedures.

Saunders said he hopes that the problems have been corrected and won't reoccur. Harris said that administrators have established a bookkeeping system for alternative education that is similar to all other schools.