State Education Department

St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf: Selected Financial Management Practices

St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, which is located in Brooklyn, is one of 11 private schools in the State that receives operating aid directly from the State to provide educational services to disabled students. We identified a number of internal control weaknesses in the areas of procurement, cash disbursements and payroll. For example, the School routinely failed to use a competitive procurement process when purchasing goods and services, and did not document the reasons for salary increases and other payroll expenditures. We also found that the School’s Board of Trustees was not providing effective oversight of the School’s financial operations. We recommended that certain actions be taken to strengthen the School’s controls over its financial operations.

For a complete copy of Report 2008-S-160 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.