State audit finds problems in Seatle school system

From Sunshine Review

22 July 2008

The Seattle School System faces an audit to account for the expenditures annually. For the 7th year in a row the school has found to have been faced with fraudulent charges, totaling to $23,890 in 2008.

[edit] Fraudulent charges

The fraudulent charges against the Seattle School System included the following:^[1]

• A school district secretary forged her supervisor's signature to get paid for nearly 300 hours of overtime that she had not worked, costing the district more than $8,700. The district fired her.

• $15,100 in Associated Student Body money was used improperly to pay for plane tickets to bring South African exchange students and teachers to Seattle as part of a high school foreign-exchange program.

• Paying some Seattle high school students participating in the exchange program approximately $25,000 up front for travel expenses to South Africa and Ireland. The district should have reimbursed them later, auditors said, and shouldn't have covered some improper purchases made during the trips -- including alcoholic drinks and host gifts.

[edit] References