PA Auditor General Completes Full Audit Of

Manheim Township School District

Posted on June 19, 2017 by BRODY, MARCIE

The Pennsylvania Department of Auditor General has completed a Performance Audit of Manheim
Township School District, evaluating the District on best practices in areas of financial stability,
governance and school safety, and the Districts compliance with relevant state laws. The full audit
report is posted online and can be found here.

The comprehensive full performance audit began in October 2016, and involved the review of
district procedures from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2016. A performance audit focuses on
program effectiveness and compliance with best practices, laws, regulations, and guidelines. It
also provides an objective analysis of information to help district management improve program
operations and reduce costs. A full performance audit reviews areas that may include, but are not
limited to:

Financial position/stability,
School safety,
Governance,
Academic performance,
Contract management and monitoring,
Administrator contract buyouts,
Transportation subsidies, contracts, and bus driver qualifications,
Hiring practices,
Teacher and administrator certification,
Student transportation data collection and reporting,
Enrollment and attendance data collection and reporting, and
Sunshine Act and Ethics Act compliance.

The final report of the Districts performance audit found that Manheim Township School District
has applied best practices in all areas listed above, and the district has complied with all state
requirements, except in the area of administrator contract buyouts.

We are pleased to announce, and happy to report to our community, that the Manheim Township
School District has demonstrated financial stability, applied best practices, and are in compliance
with state requirements according to the Pennsylvania Auditor Generals Office. Our staff worked
closely with the auditors over the last several months as they reviewed the districts daily
operations and procedures, school safety, budget management, and overall financial stability,
stated Superintendent Dr. Robin Felty.

Given that school safety remains a top priority for the District, we are very pleased with the
continued findings during the safety review component of the audit. The Districts visitation
policies, locked doors and restricted access procedures, and emergency plan promote student
safety. With ongoing attention to school safety nationwide, the District continues to enforce safety
practices in all schools, particularly relating to school access procedures and monitoring of
security systems.
 This has been a long, but successful road for this District and the current School Board, stated
MT School Board President, Mark Anderson. Our community has rallied together to show
positive support for the Board and School District that, as this final full performance audit shows,
had unwarranted negative reporting by local media. The District Administration worked closely
with the PA Auditor Generals Office, providing the information that was needed to show best
practices and to conduct the full audit. I am proud of how thoroughly this District continues to
operate in the best interest of Manheim Township students.

According to the audit, the only area that the district demonstrated lack of compliance was with
administrator contract buyouts. Manheim Township School District failed to publicly post the
settlement agreement of a former superintendent who submitted a resignation before the
superintendents contract end date. The audit finds that the settlement agreement should have
been posted to a School Board Agenda since it was voted on during a public School Board Meeting.
The district agrees with the Auditor Generals report that the separation agreement should have
been publicly posted on the Board Agenda. However, school board directors and administrators
who were working in the District Office at the time were following legal recommendations
pertaining to Board procedures, and were unaware that the actual separation agreement needed to
be posted on the Board agenda.

In the past year, the Board of School Directors has made significant changes and improvements to
the public operations of the School Board, including but not limited to:

The physical set-up of the Boardroom was redesigned to be more conducive for audience members to see the
School Board directors and view presentations clearly.
Community Conversations with the School Board events were held monthly as community drop-in sessions at
our District Office on a designated Saturday from 10:00 am-12:00 pm. These sessions are informal, informational,
and conversational in nature to provide our community the opportunity to meet with members of the School
Board and discuss important topics related to our schools. The drop-ins are facilitated on the Saturday morning
between the School Board Work Session and the School Board Meetings (typically the second Saturday of the
month). The Community Conversations with the School Board events will continue to occur during the 2017-
2018 school year.
The Board of School Directors revised Policy #005-Meetings to improve the structure of the School Board agenda.
In order to provide a more consistent and concise agenda for the public to follow, changes were made regarding
how an item is pulled and openly discussed.

As required, the Manheim Township School District receives an independent annual audit of the
financial records each year. For at least the past twenty years, the district has continually received
clean audit reports from the local independent auditors. In addition, the Auditor General
conducted a Limited Procedures Engagement audit in 2015 and found the District to be in strong
financial position through a review of its internal controls, budgeting practices, and compliance
with the Right to Know law and the Sunshine Act.

2017 ###