THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510070092
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
Following are questions concerning school budgets which School Board Member Tim Jackson has requested be answered by school staff or the auditors.
Stay tuned.
TO: June T. Kernutt
School Board chairman
FROM: Tim Jackson
SUBJECT: General questions
DATE: October 6, 1996
1. Why were over $2 million worth of 1993-94 purchase orders canceled and charged to the 1994-95 budget?
What impact did this have on the '94-'95 budget?
2. Why were revenues in excess of $1.5 million transferred from enterprise funds (self-insurance and textbook) and booked as operating-fund revenue?
These transactions misrepresented actual revenue streams and placed these funds in potentially deficit positions.
3. Was the Commonwealth College building purchased with operating revenues instead of capital financing (through the Capital Improvement Program)?
4. What impact did the '93-'94 ADM (average daily membership) calculation error have on the '94-'95 budget?
5. Given memoranda indicating budget problems brought forward from 1993-94, why were 20 special-education teachers added to the payroll in September 1994?
Who authorized this?
What impact did it have on the '94-'95 budget?
6. Why was the director of accounting position abolished?
Why was this department not properly staffed?
What impact did this have on the accounting system?
7. Why was the early-retirement program presented to the School Board as a ``cost-neutral'' program?
The 1994-95 cost for early retirement was in excess of $1 million. Who authorized the actual implementation of this $1.1 million?
8. Please determine the appropriateness of all former superintendent-related expenses, inclusive of travel, conferences, memberships, credit-card charges, other charges and miscellaneous charges.
Was this budgeted?
What impact did it have on the '94-'95 budget?
Please refer back to records for the past three years for superintendent's expenses.
9. Did the superintendent properly inform the School Board about unbudgeted expenditures (early retirement, ServiceMaster contract revision, special-education teachers, reprographic charges, etc.)?
10. Was there an official internal audit report regarding the '94-'95 budget?
If so, why weren't audit reports shared with the School Board?
Who made this decision?
When was the internal audit conducted?
11. In reference to the special-education budget, why were actual expenditures in excess of budgeted appropriations?
Why were additional teachers staffed in the middle of the year without an additional appropriations transfer?
Who approved these appropriations?
What impact did this have on the '94-'95 budget?
12.In reference to the Board Services budget, why were actual expenditures in excess of budgeted appropriations?
Why were expenditures for legal services in excess?
Who authorized these expenditures?
13. In reference to reprographics charges, who authorized overspending these line-item accounts?
What impact did this have on the '94-'95 budget?
14. In reference to the technology budget, who authorized additional contract employees for technical and programming computer support?
What impact did this have on the '94-'95 budget?
15. What departments (inclusive of the director) overspent their individual budgets in 1993-94 and 1994-95?
Why weren't these unbudgeted needs brought to the attention of the School Board?
Who authorized these additional expenditures?
What was the exact amount overspent by each department?
This must include department, director, amount appropriated, amount overspent.
Who authorized these additional expenditures, the superintendent, the School Board or the deputy superintendent?
16. For future years, can all School Board excess revenues (surplus funds which revert to City Council) be placed in a School Board-designated ``fund balance'' account?
17. Does present budgeting technology meet the financial reporting needs of the school division?
If not, what updates are needed to bring the system to fiscal accountability?
18. In reference to the ServiceMaster contract, what School Board funds were expended from other budgets (in addition to custodial services)?
What was the total unbudgeted (amount) spent on ServiceMaster?
What impact did this have on the '94-'95 budget?
19. Was there a revenue shortfall in '93-'94?
If so, how was it restored?
20. At what point were city officials concerned about the possible deficit?
If they were aware, why was this not communicated to the School Board via monthly meetings with the mayor, School Board chairman and administrators?
21. Were there miscalculations on the number of teachers needed for '93-'94 and '94-'95?
Who would be responsible?
Were there miscalculations on the benefits and cost of the retirement program?
Were there miscalculations regarding benefits for employees? What impact did this have on the'94-'95 budget?
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD DEFICIT BUDGET by CNB