Irvington Union Free School District – Information Technology (2016M-266)

Issued Date
November 18, 2016

Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine internal controls over information technology (IT) for the period July 1, 2014 through February 22, 2016.

Background

The Irvington Union Free School District is located in the Towns of Greenburgh and Tarrytown and the Village of Irvington in Westchester County. The District, which operates four schools with approximately 1,700 students, is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $57.7 million.

Key Findings

  • The acceptable use policy does not address computer users who do not use the District’s computers for instructional purposes or the inappropriate use of IT equipment.
  • The email policy allows for the use of personal email through external mail servers.
  • District staff are able to access websites that are unrelated to their District duties and violate the acceptable use policy because the District’s web filtering software is not configured to block access.

Key Recommendations

  • Update the District’s acceptable use policy to address users who do not use computers for instructional purposes and to identify what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate use of IT equipment, the Board’s expectations concerning personal use of IT equipment and user privacy.
  • Consider the risk of allowing users to access personal email through external mail servers and amend the email policy accordingly.
  • Monitor Internet usage and configure the web filtering software to block access to sites that violate the acceptable use policy.