Today, the local Daily Commercial in Lake County (FL) had a front page article (below) saying that the Lake County, FL School District Superintendant and staff had finally granted their internal auditor access to District documents and records on the internal computer system. This is one of the indicators of resistance to fiscal oversight that has been noted in the papers that led to the establishment of this blog. Now, we will see if it actually happens.
Additionally, note that the article indicates the auditor's office is at the "old" Dabney Elementary School in Leesburg. That building is vacant except for two other people (we understand) and is several miles from the main offices and records of the District. In my 18 years of auditing I have never seen such a situation where the management of a $700-million organization makes their own internal auditor stay in "Siberia". That is another indicator of the resistance by the Superintendant and district in allowing professional fiscal oversight. If I was an Internal Audit Director at a company where a subsidiary treated auditors like that, we would send in several auditors to find what was being hidden. ( I actually had a District manager at one company who kept disappearing for scheduled visits, so we showed up without notice at his other location and had his boss on the phone to speak to him. We found he was spending his time at another plant visiting a woman and skipping management duties.)
PS: Did you know that a Florida citizen can request an in depth, special audit of a Florida State government agency or program through their Florida State Senator or Representative. A process exists to do that, according to a manager in the Florida State Inspector General's office. That way you don't have to wait for the next "scheduled" routine audit.
vj
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from: http://www.dailycommercial.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=162&ArticleID=17971
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Auditor getting computer access
School District financial watchdog had complained of being shut out
Sunday, October 08, 2006
TAVARES - The new auditor for the Lake County School District should finally have read-only access to the district's financial records via computer.
Auditor Lisa Myles has faced problems getting access to the district's financial data.
Ken Osman, chief technology officer, and Bonnie Penner, chief financial officer for the district, said Myles should be allowed access to the records.
But the access should only be granted after Myles is trained on the system, Osman said.
Osman explained the computer access problem in a memo to Superintendent Anna Cowin: "Since a direct supervisor is required to authorize access requests for (the system) ... the board chairman's signature is required to authorize system access."
With the school board's district auditor policy, Myles thought she was going to get unfettered access to the district offices in Tavares. Her offices are at the old Dabney Elementary School in Leesburg.
At a board meeting in August, Myles backed off slightly and asked to have access from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. She wound up getting the same treatment as the public - come in from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., when district offices are open.
Beyond going to the district offices for data, Myles couldn't get access via computer.
Some audit committee members have accused Cowin of interfering with Myles' quest for financial data ,but Cowin insists she is giving Myles everything she requests.
Myles could not be reached for comment Friday.
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