EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 5- Interview Summary with District Budget Director

EDLD 5342

Week 4 Part 5

I was so grateful to Susan Olson, Director of Budget, of the Socorro ISD for meeting with me and being gracious enough to spend over two hours explaining changes to the instructional salaries this new school year and the process that took place to make those changes. In our discussion of the auditing process, she emphasized good internal and external auditing helps make sure the checks and balances built into the system are working well. She states the primary reason school districts gets into trouble with ethical dilemmas is when the checks and balances are ignored or bypassed. Having personnel with strong ethical integrity is essential in making sure no one is above the rules.

The auditing process extends for a good portion of the school year. In the fall, the district accepts competitive bids and considers not only price, but experience in doing school financial accounting. Ms. Olson has extensive experience in the public and private sectors in accounting and maintains school financial accounting is very different. Without a thorough understanding of state rules, regulations and mandates, an auditing firm can be more harm than help. To that end, Socorro ISD has hired the same firm for the past five years. Even though this could change any year, the experience and expertise this firm bring to the process is invaluable. The different bids are considered and the board accepts a proposal that the district lawyer will then create a contract with the winning accounting firm.

The external auditing team is given office space in the budget office. They request certain document which the district provides. District personnel are available to answer any questions; however, most of the time the documents requested are sufficient for the auditors to complete their evaluation. The auditors are currently at the district offices now. Ms. Olson explain this is an ongoing process.

Again, the primary objective of the audit is to evaluate the system of checks and balances, whether these are being maintained, and how effective they are in keeping the financial health and integrity of the system. The audit will confirm all things are well or shine a light on any unethical or circumnavigation of the system of checks and balances. This adds to the transparency to all stakeholders about how local, state, federal and other funds are handled.

Results are communicated to the board of trustees in a public meeting on the TEA website. Links to these sources are provided on the SISD website.