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The
challenges ahead: Three goals for 2007-08
The 2007-08 school year will focus on the same goals as last
year, said HFM BOCES Board President Robert Townsend,
including growth, fiscal responsibility and the emerging
identity of HFM BOCES.
Growth is the byproduct of HFM staff members working with
our component school districts and their employees to
provide top-quality, essential programs and services, he
said.
 “We
do the work our components don’t have the capacity to do or
don’t want to do,” said Dr. Davis. “We take the most
challenging assignments. But if we get too expensive, our
districts will take them back.”
Containing costs to make sure our programs remain viable is
just one benefit of HFM’s renewed commitment to fiscal
responsibility.
“The board is also developing policies and procedural
changes to make sure we are in compliance with the state
comptroller’s requirements,” Mr. Townsend said, reminding
all staff of the importance of adhering to HFM’s policies
and procedures.
Schools and BOCES across the state are now in an era of
unprecedented fiscal accountability, Dr. Davis said, “and
that doesn’t feel good.” It may feel like there is a lack of
trust or that integrity is being questioned, he said, but in
reality these new requirements are a “legislative reaction
to criminal behavior elsewhere in the state.”
School administrators on Long Island and elsewhere “have
been caught stealing millions of dollars right from under
their boards of education’s noses,” he said, prompting the
state to significantly ramp up its auditing requirements for
schools and BOCES.
“We used to have two levels of audits,” Dr. Davis said. “Now
there are five levels of audits,” both internal and
external.
HFM BOCES is committed to maintaining its fiscal
accountability. “We are not going to be the next BOCES in
the newspaper,” he said.
This accountability requires all staff to adhere to
established procedures for purchasing, mileage and other
expense reimbursement, and more. “Please don’t take it out
on the Business Office staff when they ask you to comply
with these guidelines,” he said.
 Audits
of other BOCES and school districts routinely turn up
problems with employees using school telephones for personal
calls, failure to track inventory of school property, and
mileage and travel expenses that are not documented,
overstated or have no receipts provided, said HFM BOCES
Associate Superintendent Linda Edwards.
She reminded staff that HFM recently adopted a standardized
mileage chart that staff should refer to when submitting
mileage requests. For any destinations not included on the
chart, employeess should refer to
Yahoo Maps on the
Internet to calculate the mileage. “For any unusual
circumstances, you will need to provide a written
explanation and include it with your mileage form,” she
said.
She also reminded staff that only Dr. Davis is authorized to
sign a contract on behalf of HFM BOCES, and that a
salvage/transfer form must be filled out and approved by the
Board of Education before equipment is disposed of. In
addition, she said, if equipment is to be moved from one
location to another, the Business Office must be notified. |
