HARRISBURG, PA. — Harrisburg School District Receiver, Dr. Janet Samuels released a statement today in response to the audit report released yesterday by the Dept. of Education. The report was a scathing review of district accounting and Human Resources practices over the past three years and found over $5 million in questioned costs and expenditures made by the district.
“In my capacity as the court appointed Receiver, I acknowledge receipt of the audit which is a clear indictment of the accounting and Human Resources practices of the former school district administration. I am not going to comment on any of the specifics of the audit findings other than the fact that the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit plans to fully analyze all of the issues raised in the audit and establish best practices for the school district. These audit findings further justify the necessity of my June 27, 2019 action partnering with the MCIU to operate the district and my personnel actions taken on that date,” said Dr. Janet Samuels.
Some of the lowlights from the report include overpayments to employees, former employees continuing to receive free health benefits, paying $903,000 for substitute teacher services that were never provided and a business office which failed to provide oversight and that was saddled with under-qualified management.
The audit, performed by Wessel & Company, found almost $2.6 million in potential questioned costs and another $2.4 million in unsupported expenditures.