Dayton school district gets best state audit in years

2017-18 AUDIT: Schools paid workers who never showed up

Treasurer Hiwot Abraha said the clean audit is another step in DPS’ improvement efforts, following a move last year from high-risk to low-risk auditee.

“This is a big achievement for our school district, our community, taxpayers and all stakeholders,” Abraha said. “We are delighted that we received this unmodified opinion, and we will keep on improving going forward.”

In several recent years, Dayton audits had also listed “significant deficiencies” or “material noncompliance” tied to certain financial reporting procedures. The 2018-19 audit from the state shows no deficiencies, noncompliance items or material weaknesses for the first time in at least five years.

2016-17 AUDIT: Audit shows DPS paid $30K in unearned salary

In the past two years’ audits, one of DPS’ largest problems had been employees getting paid for periods they didn’t work. In some cases, people were hired and received some pay, but never actually started, and in other cases people resigned and were still paid for awhile after they left.

School board President Mohamed Al-Hamdani congratulated the treasurer’s department, saying Abraha’s team and other top district leadership have been working on “dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s.”

“I think it’s a product of a concentrated effort on our treasurer’s department, to work very hard to ensure that we stay fiscally responsible and also stay compliant,” Al-Hamdani said.

NOVEMBER: Dayton schools’ bond rating improves

The audit news comes on the heels of an improvement in DPS’ bond rating last fall. The Fitch agency upgraded Dayton’s default bond rating from BBB+ to A-, which could lower the district’s borrowing costs in the future.

About the Path Forward

Our team of investigative reporters digs into what you identified as pressing issues facing our community. The Path Forward project seeks solutions to these problems by investigating how to improve Dayton Public Schools. Follow our work at DaytonDailyNews.com/PathForward or join one of our Facebook Groups.