News Archive
2008 Articles
2007 Articles
2006 Articles
2005 Articles
2004 Articles
2003 Articles
2002 Articles
2001 Articles
2000 Articles
1999 Articles
Past Articles
|
|
Fulton County Schools
March 23, 2005
BOARD RELEASES FORENSIC AUDIT STATEMENT
During a retreat held March 22, the Fulton County Board of Education unanimously adopted the following statement regarding the status of the district's ongoing forensic audit of four capital projects:
Concerns have recently arisen regarding the Fulton County School System's capital programs. The Board of Education and school system staff are addressing these concerns and have enlisted the expertise of independent consultants to help review our procedures.
In October of 2004, the Board also initiated a forensic audit and charged the firm of Kessler International with reviewing four projects: Alpharetta High School, Freemanville Road high school site, Sandtown Middle School and North Springs High School.
At this stage of the investigation, documentation has revealed at least $2.5 million of possible misued funds, including problems with missing equipment, costs exceeding terms of contracts, unauthorized expenditure of funds, and frivolous and personal expenses billed to the district.
The Board of Education is committed to making sure the funds and programs entrusted to the school system are managed properly and used in the most effective and ethical manner. Therefore, the Board is considering all options to recapture any funds that may have been misused or misspent.
As a part of the ongoing efforts, the Board has instructed the audit firm and its attorneys to continue the audit and being efforts to recover all taxpayer funds due to the district.
"We can assure our taxpayers that we are being very proactive in our approach," said Board President Gail Dean. "Not only are we conducting the forensic audit, we also hired an independent auditor to review our financial situation. Additionally, we are seeing improved efficiencies as a result of outsourcing our construction program to Parsons International. The bottom line is that we fully expect to recoup significant financial resources for the school districut and we will continue to improve our processes so that we can ensure financial accountability."
About the Fulton County School System.The Fulton County School System is the fourth largest school system in Georgia. More than 75,000 students attend 88 schools in the cities of Alpharetta, College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Hapeville, Mountain Park, Palmetto, Roswell, and Union City. The district also serves students in unincorporated parts of Atlanta, including Sandy Springs and some areas in southwest Atlanta.
|
|
