Gateway School District Allegheny County, Pennsylvania ______
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PERFORMANCE AUDIT ____________ Gateway School District Allegheny County, Pennsylvania ____________ July 2017 Mr. William Short, Superintendent Mr. Scott Williams, Board President Gateway School District Gateway School District 9000 Gateway Campus Boulevard 9000 Gateway Campus Boulevard Monroeville, Pennsylvania 15146 Monroeville, Pennsylvania 15146 Dear Mr. Short and Mr. Williams: We have conducted a performance audit of the Gateway School District (District) for the period July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2015, except as otherwise indicated in the audit scope, objective, and methodology section of the report. We evaluated the District’s performance in the following areas as further described in the appendix of this report: • Transportation Operations • Data Integrity • Bus Driver Requirements • School Safety The audit was conducted pursuant to Sections 402 and 403 of The Fiscal Code (72 P.S. §§ 402 and 403), and in accordance with the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. Our audit found that the District performed adequately in the areas listed above, except as noted in the following finding: • The District Incorrectly Reported the Number of Nonpublic and Charter School Students Transported Resulting in a Net Underpayment of $16,940 Mr. William Short Mr. Scott Williams Page 2 We appreciate the District’s cooperation during the course of the audit. Sincerely, Eugene A. DePasquale July 17, 2017 Auditor General cc: GATEWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of School Directors Table of Contents Page Background Information ............................................................................................................. 1 Findings and Observations .......................................................................................................... 5 Finding – The District Incorrectly Reported the Number of Nonpublic and Charter School Students Transported Resulting in a Net Underpayment of $16,940 ....................................................................................................... 5 Status of Prior Audit Findings and Observations ....................................................................... 9 Appendix: Audit Scope, Objectives, and Methodology ............................................................. 12 Distribution List .......................................................................................................................... 15 Background Information School Characteristics Mission StatementA A 2016-17 School Year County Allegheny The mission of the Gateway School Total Square Miles 19.54 District, in cooperation with parents and Resident PopulationB 31,680 other members of the community, is to Number of School provide quality educational opportunities 7 Buildings for all students, to promote academic Total Teachers 271 excellence in a safe and caring Total Full or Part- environment, to enhance self-confidence 240 Time Support Staff through personal responsibility, and to develop life-long learners who will be Total Administrators 24 productive citizens in a diverse and Total Enrollment for changing world. Most Recent School 3,111 Year Intermediate Unit 3 Number District Vo-Tech Forbes Road CTC School A - Source: Information provided by the District administration and is unaudited. B - Source: United States Census http://www.census.gov/2010census. Financial Information The following pages contain financial information about the District obtained from annual financial data reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and available on PDE’s public website. This information was not audited and is presented for informational purposes only. General Fund Balance TOTAL DEBT For Year End June 30 FOR YEAR END JUNE 30 General Fund Balance Debt $12 $60 $10 11.0 $58 $8 Millions 9.8 9.2 8.7 $56 58.0 $6 8.0 MILLIONS 56.3 56.3 56.6 $4 $54 $2 $52 53.8 $0 $50 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Note: General Fund Balance is comprised of the District’s Committed, Note: Total Debt is comprised of Short-Term Borrowing, General Obligation Assigned and Unassigned Fund Balances. Bonds, Authority Building Obligations, Other Long-Term Debt, Other Post-Employment Benefits and Compensated Absences. Gateway School District Performance Audit 1 Financial Information Continued Total Revenue and Total Charter Tuition Expenditures Payments For Year End June 30 For Year End June 30 Total Revenue Total Expenditures Total Charter Tuition Payments $72 $4 $70 $4 71.3 3.6 Millions 3.6 $3 MILLIONS $68 69.9 69.7 3.1 69.1 $3 $66 67.2 $2 $64 65.8 $2 64.9 1.7 64.4 64.2 1.7 $62 63.8 $1 $60 $1 $58 $0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Revenue By Source For Year End June 30 $60 51.1 50.6 49.8 49.3 47.5 $50 MILLIONS $40 $30 17.6 16.3 15.2 14.9 $20 13.7 $10 2.8 2.8 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 $0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Local Revenue State Revenue Federal Revenue Other Revenue Gateway School District Performance Audit 2 Academic Information The following table and charts consist of School Performance Profile (SPP) scores and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) results for the entire District obtained from PDE’s data files.1 These scores are presented in the District’s audit report for informational purposes only, and they were not audited by our Department. SPP benchmarks represent the statewide average of all district school buildings in the Commonwealth.2 PSSA benchmarks and goals are determined by PDE each school year and apply to all public school entities.3 District SPP and PSSA scores were calculated using an average of all of the individual school buildings within the District. Scores below SPP statewide averages and PSSA benchmarks/goals are presented in red. Districtwide SPP and PSSA Scores PSSA % Advanced or PSSA % Advanced or SPP Scores Proficient in Math Proficient in Reading 2012- 2013- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2011- 2012- 2013- District 13 14 12 13 14 12 13 14 Statewide Benchmark 77.6 77.2 78 73 71 81 70 69 Gateway SD 77.0 75.1 82.1 80.7 73.8 80.2 74.3 73.0 SPP Grade4 C C District SPP PSSA % Advanced or PSSA % Advanced or Scores Proficient in Math Proficient in Reading 100 100 100 90 90 80 80 80 81 70 78 70 82.1 80.7 77.6 80.2 77.2 77.0 73 60 75.1 71 70 69 74.3 60 73.8 60 73.0 40 50 50 40 40 20 30 30 20 20 0 10 10 2012-13 2013-14 0 0 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 District Score Statewide Average District Score Statewide Benchmark District Score Statewide Benchmark 1 PDE is the sole source of academic data presented in this report. All academic data was obtained from PDE’s publically available website. 2 Statewide averages for SPP scores were calculated based on all district school buildings throughout the Commonwealth, excluding charter and cyber charter schools. 3 PSSA benchmarks apply to all district school buildings, charters, and cyber charters. In the 2011-12 school year, the state benchmarks reflect the Adequate Yearly Progress targets established under No Child Left Behind. In the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years, the state benchmarks reflect the statewide goals based on annual measurable objectives established by PDE. 4 The following letter grades are based on a 0-100 point system: A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), F (59 or below). Gateway School District Performance Audit 3 Individual School Building SPP and PSSA Scores The following table consists of SPP scores and PSSA results for each of the District’s school buildings. Any blanks in PSSA data means that PDE did not publish a score for that school for that particular year.5 PSSA % Advanced or PSSA % Advanced or SPP Scores Proficient in Math Proficient in Reading 2012- 2013- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2011- 2012- 2013- School Name 13 14 12 13 14 12 13 14 Statewide Benchmark 77.6 77.2 78 73 71 81 70 69 Dr Cleveland Steward Jr 69.6 63.5 85.0 76.4 62.3 72.0 66.4 56.6 Elementary School Evergreen Elementary School 74.2 76.6 82.4 81.0 81.7 85.9 67.2 69.9 Gateway Middle School 88.0 81.4 80.8 82.6 75.8 88.6 86.2 84.6 Gateway Senior High School 81.7 80.4 68.4 70.8 61.6 80.2 75.2 78.5 Moss Side Middle School 77.6 70.3 78.7 75.8 68.3 69.2 67.3 64.9 Ramsey Elementary School 72.6 78.2 90.8 86.9 81.8 80.5 75.4 75.2 University Park Elementary 75.1 75.2 88.6 91.2 85.3 84.8 82.3 81.4 School 4 Year Cohort Graduation Rates The cohort graduation rates are a calculation of the percentage of students who have 4 Year Cohort Graduation graduated with a regular high school Rate diploma within a designated number of 100 years since the student first entered high 80 93.4 school. The rate is determined for a cohort 92.7 90.8 90.1 89.6 89.5 of students who have all entered high school 60 for the first time during the same school 40 6 year. 20 0 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 District Graduation Rate Statewide Average 5 PDE’s data does not provide any further information regarding the reason a score was not published. 6 http://www.education.pa.gov/Data-and-Statistics/Pages/Cohort-Graduation-Rate-.aspx. Gateway School District Performance Audit 4 Findings and Observations Finding The District Incorrectly Reported the Number of Nonpublic and Charter School Students Transported Resulting in a Net Underpayment of $16,940 The District was underpaid $16,940 in transportation Criteria relevant to the finding: reimbursement from PDE.