SUPERINTENDENT'S STATEMENT REGARDING AUDIT FINDINGS
November 13, 2019, Madison Heights, Michigan - Madison District Public Schools has a long history of serving the community. Our motto, "Serving Families - One Student at a Time" declares the orientation of service that our dedicated staff embody as well as the focus of our service: students and families.
To that end, the school district as a whole was dismayed to learn that the audit showed a number of contracts were awarded by prior senior administration of the school district without required public bids and Board of Education approval. This was confirmed by an audit from the State of Michigan as well as an investigation by our legal counsel. At the time, the results of these investigations were shared with the public.
In that same spirit, we are sharing the results of the annual independent audit that our auditors, Plante Moran, performed of the school's finances. There, the auditors list a number of significant findings (called "material weaknesses"). Among them:
- Former senior management approving payroll changes and expense reimbursements without following payroll procedures or maintaining proper support for changes;
- Violations of procurement policies (as described by the State audit and the investigation by our counsel); and
- Lack of overall monitoring by the Board of Education.
We direct your attention to pages 12 to 15 of the Independent Auditor's Reports.
It is important to note that, following last November's elections, when the newly-constituted Board of Education was seated in January of this year, the Board undertook measures to address what it perceived to be deficiencies of the prior administration.
At its January 7, 2019 meeting, the Board created a subcommittee to ensure that a board member was personally a signatory to school district checks. The Board also created a subcommittee for purposes of approving contracts and approved the solicitation of bids for a forensic audit.
The Board continues to work together, in collaboration with the new administration, to address these findings and to steward the school districts resources for the benefit of its students.
Despite the issues identified in the Plante Moran audit, Madison District Public Schools remains focused and committed to its service of families and students. We are placing this information into the public domain so that the public may see not only the challenges jointly identified by the auditors and the school district, but also the solutions that have been undertaken to constructively address the challenges in a transparent manner.
Sincerely,
Angel M. Abdulahad
Madison District Public Schools Financial Report with Supplemental Information, June 30, 2019
Madison District Public Schools Federal Awards Supplemental Information, June 30, 2019