Chelmsford Schools Must Repay the State for Misused Funds

CHELMSFORD, MA - Chelmsford Public Schools must repay the state nearly $6,400 in misused grant funds, a recent fiscal review found.

In a packet published ahead of the Feb. 23 School Committee meeting, Michelle Cresta, the schools’ director of business and finance, said in a memo that a recent unanticipated fiscal review by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had uncovered that “some of the expenses allocated to [specific grants] were questionable. The questioned costs amount to $6,397 for both grants.”

The specific grants in were fiscal year 2014 and included Title IIA: Teacher Quality and Title III: English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement, according to Cresta’s memo.

Cresto went on to say that she agreed with the reviewer’s findings and anticipated requesting a transfer at a future school committee meeting to cover the cost of the repayment.

The report DESE submitted following the review (it is also included in the school committee agenda packet) found that the district’s had done well in maintaining a number of “good business practices.”

Still, under the Title IIA grant, auditors found the district complied with grant requirements except in the item of “$981 in expenses for supplies and materials consisted of only a year end journal entry charge reclassifying ‘staff development supplies’ from the district’s account to the grant.”

Likewise, under Title III grant, the state found the district complied except:

• “$164 in expenses for supplies and materials consisted of only a year end journal entry charge reclassifying ‘staff development supplies’ from the district’s account to the grant and an invoice for a purchase of text books unrelated to the grant.”
• “$5,252 in payments to professional staff charged to travel presumably for conferences and workshops could not be supported by any documentation.”

The full school committee packet is available online.