Columbus – State auditors issued a $557 finding for recovery against an elementary school secretary for library fines and student fees that went missing during 2016. 

An audit of the Pickerington Local School District (Fairfield County) found that only $60 of $596 in library fines collected by the Tussing Elementary School were deposited with the district and posted to its accounting ledgers. 

Betty Stewart, the school’s building secretary, was responsible for safeguarding funds collected by other school employees and depositing the money with the district. Records showed she attested to receiving the full amount of $596 from the librarian.

“It’s evident that the district and its schools need to upgrade their internal controls,” Auditor Yost said. “Any time the deposits don’t match the collections, a red flag should immediately signal a closer inspection.”

Auditors also determined that Stewart was accountable for a $21 cash payment for student fees that a parent made during the school’s orientation night. The parent had a receipt showing the payment was made, but the money was never deposited with the district treasurer. 

Anonymous donors in April repaid the $557 finding for recovery issued against Stewart.

A full copy of this report is available online. 

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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 5,900 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.

Contact:
Beth Gianforcaro
Press Secretary
614-644-1111