State Education Department

Implementation of the RESCUE Program (Follow-Up Report)

In the State Education Department’s RESCUE Program, school districts are required to develop maintenance plans for their school buildings and prepare an annual report card for district residents about building conditions. In our initial audit report 2002-S-51, we examined the Department’s administration of the program and found that improvements were needed, as many of the districts we visited had not prepared the required plans and most had not prepared the required report card. We also examined the Department’s oversight of school district claims for capital construction aid, and found that some districts inappropriately deferred maintenance activities so that their costs could be reimbursed through capital construction aid. We recommended that certain improvements be made in the Department’s administration of the RESCUE program, and when we followed up on these matters with Department officials, we found that significant progress had been made in implementing our recommendations.

For a complete copy of Report 2004-F-30 click here.