Columbus- Potential savings of $5,365,000 could be gained through recommendations in the performance audit of the Parma City School District released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost. Comparing the audit cost of approximately $55,000 to the savings identified in the report, the return on investment for this performance audit is $97.50 for every dollar spent on the audit.

“Even small recommendations add up, and pretty soon we’re talking about real money,” Auditor Yost said. “These potential cost savings could go a very long way in helping the Parma City Schools become fiscally fit again.”

The performance audit recommends that the district should negotiate to further reduce health care costs. This can be done by negotiating to require that classified staff contribute 15% to the cost of their health care premiums, bringing them in line with the district’s teachers and certain administrative staff. Also, by altering coverage levels and enforcing contract provisions regarding deductibles, the district would see significant savings. A conservative estimate of the potential annual savings is $1.7 million.

By reducing the print shop and copier costs per student, Parma City Schools could save $150,000 annually. Currently, the district spends $41.63 per student on print and copier costs. Compared to the peer average cost of $28.79 per student, the district could see considerable cost savings by reducing the number of copiers and shifting workload to the in-house print shop.

Staggering the school building bell schedules would allow for a more efficient fleet operation. This allows for multiple runs per bus, and altered routes would improve bus capacity utilization. The district, upon taking these steps, could eliminate 38 buses from its active fleet, saving $731,000.

The Parma City School District was placed in fiscal caution by the Ohio Department of Education on December 19, 2010. This performance audit was conducted due to its fiscal caution status. The district has an enrollment of 11,513 and general fund revenue of $127,331,764 (FY 2010).

A full copy of this performance audit may be found online at http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,600 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

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