Butkovitz’ releases audit of School District grants
City Controller Alan Butkovitz today released the School District FY08 Single Audit that included an analysis by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) citing the School District’s smaller, higher poverty schools lack appropriate staffing levels.
A school needs to have sufficient staff in relation to its student population for the School District to be in compliance to receive Title I grant money, which is provided for students of low income families who are at risk of meeting state academic standards. With the state’s review of the staff vs. student ratios, it was determined that the School District failed to use Title I grant money to provide services that are substantially comparable in each Title I school.
“For the past five years, the Controller’s Office has found that the School District failed to provide any documentation that would demonstrate compliance with the comparability requirement,” said Butkovitz. “Without proper documentation, there was no way of knowing if the School District was following the comparability requirement.
“I commend the state for stepping in and providing results that back up this finding.”
The PDE determined that 16 high schools, five middle schools and 20 elementary schools were not in compliance with the comparability requirement using Student/Instructional Staff Ratios on a Grade – Span basis. According to the PDE, the School District’s comparability issues overwhelmingly reside in smaller, higher poverty high school and middle school, both in terms of total numbers and the amount of additional staff needed in each school to be in compliance.
Some of the schools that were determined by the PDE to be out of compliance include: Douglas High School, Germantown High School, Roosevelt Middle School, Sheridan Elementary and J.B. Kelly Elementary.
“I urge the School District to comply with the PDE’s directive to ensure that services provided under the Title I program are substantially comparable between schools,” said Butkovitz. “A balanced funding mechanism among all schools is essential to providing an effective learning environment.”
Along with a review of the Title I Grants, the Controller’s single audit findings include:
- The School District did not obtain a required audit report for one of its subrecipients representing $539,358 in funding relating to the Special Education Grants to States program.
- The School District liquidated grant funds totaling $246,129 beyond the allowed deadlines and without prior approval of the grantor agency for the Reading First State Grants and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants.
- The School District did not maintain periodic certifications that employees funded with Career and Technical Education funds worked solely on the program during fiscal year 2008.
To view a copy of the School District Single audit as well as other audits and reports, please visit the Controller’s Office Website: www.philadelphiacontroller.org.
+ Top Story
Brian White opened his barbershop in 2008, he wanted to try something different. He didn't just want to offer haircuts like other barbershops in the area. First, he wanted to re-introduce the "bow-tie" effect to a generation that has never seen that. And, secondly...
It might be coincidental that the new year and the beginning of tax season arrive so close together. Many people resolve to be wiser with their money in the new year, and it just so happens that being smart about your taxes is a good way to get started.
Smartphones are steadily becoming commonplace devices for everyone from professionals to busy moms. Users of these devices now instinctively turn to their phones for tasks that previously they would only have accomplished on a computer, over the phone or in person.
Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers. The closings are the latest and most visible in a long series of moves to try to fix a retailer...
Last month, EURweb reported that Cathy Hughes' cable channel TV One was suing the BET Network, MTV and Music World Music for violating its exclusive rights to the Essence Music Festival. Mathew Knowles' Music World Music is listed in the lawsuit because his company brokered the deal...
Russell Simmons was among the handful of celebrities making a daily show of support of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) via a very visible presence on the ground in lower Manhattan and other cities.
For years, getting a government job meant security, good pay and a pathway into the middle class for many Americans, especially African-Americans and other minorities. But with government agencies at all levels forced to slash expenses in a bid to balance budgets that long-held promise is in danger of being broken.
A federal lawsuit filed Monday in Chicago accused Comcast Corp. of discriminating against the African-American employees of its South Side facility and its own customers by requiring workers to install defective or bug-infested equipment into residents' homes.