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The audit, performed by the Office of the New York State Comptroller between July 2020 and April 2022, found that the Chappaqua Central School District did not "properly monitor and account for" several fixed assets, and had not performed a physical inventory count since 2018, state officials said.
According to a report released by the Comptroller's Office, of the 164 assets reviewed by the audit, 148 assets totaling over $220,000 were not recorded by the district's asset list.
Some of these fixed assets included:
- Eight electrostatic sprayers totaling $15,942;
- 11 interactive displays totaling $37,389;
- 12 air purifiers totaling $10,788.
The report from the Comptroller's Office also found that the school district had 18 assets such as musical instruments and printers totaling over $25,000 without the assets tags required under the district's policies.
Officials also discovered that 25 disposed of assets had not been removed from the district's asset list.
Additionally, the report found that the district's policies did not require a periodic inventory count or unannounced asset count for departments and that officials subsequently did not perform these inventories.
When state officials brought these issues up with the district's assistant superintendent, they were told their asset information was being transferred to a new asset management company in February 2022. As a result, the audit performed by the Comptroller’s Office looked at fixed asset lists from both the district's old and new management software programs.
The Comptroller’s Office's audit was then extended to August 2022 so officials could examine the new asset list generated by the new company, which was still missing several fixed assets, the report said.
As a result of the findings, the Comptroller’s Office gave the district the following recommendations:
- Ensure that the new asset list is complete ad accurate and that all fixed assets are tagged;
- Make sure that all disposed of assets are removed from the district's asset list;
- Update their fixed asset policy to require unannounced and periodic inventory counts.
In a letter sent to the Comptroller's Office in March 2023, Chappaqua Central School District Superintendent Christine Ackerman said that the district would accept the recommendations and that a Corrective Action Plan is currently being developed.
Ackerman added that this plan would be submitted within 90 days of the report's release.
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