THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: POPLAR BRANCH LENGTH: 53 lines
Currituck County's public schools may have their share of problems, but bookkeeping isn't one of them.
For the second year in a row an independent auditor has given the schools' finance department its highest rating for records kept during the 1995-96 fiscal year.
When asked by a school board member what letter grade would correspond to the report, accountant Pete Catalfamo of Catalfamo and Associate in Moyock, said: ``You got an `A' again.''
The news was greeted enthusiastically by the Currituck County Board of Education, which is required to maintain the accounting records according to a uniform state format.
Catalfamo gave an oral report during the board's regular meeting on Monday night at Griggs Elementary School in Poplar Branch.
``It's nice to know we're in very sound financial shape for a school system because we have a lot of growth ahead of us, and we'll need to be in strong financial shape,'' said Mary Ellen Maxwell, who was re-named chair of the board Monday.
Garry Owens was elected vice chair by a 3-2 vote. Sam Walker and Janet Taylor voted to give Taylor another term as vice chair.
Among the notable items, the audit indicated that the school system had a general fund surplus of $1.06 million on June 30. That's up 36 percent from a fund balance of $774,656 at the beginning of the fiscal year.
The report did include a few technical violations and made four recommendations.
This led to several changes, including:
Noncash items, such as textbooks and USDA commodities, will be included in budgets. Previously, because the county did not write checks for these items, they weren't on the books.
Cash and checks collected by school employees, including teachers and coaches, must be given to the school secretary for deposit on a daily basis at all campuses.
Cash receipt logs from the superintendent's office must be compared with bank deposits when bank reconciliations are performed.
School system employees who referee school games will be paid through payroll and be subject to withholding taxes. All others referees will continue to be paid from athletic fund checkbooks.
Finance Director Bruce W. Miller said he submitted the report for award consideration by two national organizations.
Last year the school system was given a certificate of excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.
Currituck County also received a similar award from the International Association of School Business Officials.