APS Property theft tops a quarter million

During the year 2011-12, $260,516.03 worth of APS property was lost or stolen, link.

Recently, COSO auditors found, link;

1. apparent lack of accountability for the protection of district assets
2. management culture shows varying emphasis on integrity and ethics
3. District management's approach to allegations of nepotism, cronyism and protection of property needs improvement
4. it is unclear whether the District has reported to the State Auditor discoveries of cash fraud and property losses, or that they intend to rectify this finding in the future
5. a perception that management is ineffective or ambivalent about enforcing standards of conduct, and enforces rules inconsistently
6. the school board is not focused on evaluating the effectiveness of "the tone at the top"
7. the district does not publish a code of conduct
8. District assets are not protected from unauthorized access or use
9. no systematic confirmation that required performance reviews are actually done
10. there is no stated policy requiring employees to report criminal convictions
11. credit checks are not done on employees with fiduciary responsibilities who handle cash
12. there are no formal processes for periodic risk assessment or root cause analysis of recurring issues
13. formal identification of risks at the activity-level have not been performed
14. no formalized process for employees to provide recommendations for improvements
15. suppliers, customers and others are not made aware of District standards and expectations
16. such standards are not reinforced in routine dealings
17. improprieties are not reported to appropriate personnel
18. formal monitoring of internal controls needs improvement
19. personnel are not periodically required to acknowledge compliance with the code of conduct
20. the Internal Audit Department is understaffed and therefore consumed with property issues and activity accounts at the expense of systematic issues of risk.
21. the District does not conduct formal self-assessments of control processes
22. no evidence of a single process or clearinghouse for tracking issues and corrective actions

School Board Member Kathy Korte, when asked what she intended to do about these findings, indicated she would wait until they come up in discussion before dealing with them.

They, apparently, have not come up in discussion and taxpayers, teachers and students are out another quarter of a million dollars.




photo Mark Bralley