The state’s most recent audit of the Duneland School Corporation has found fault with the way that the school system has processed credit card payments and how it paid employees during extracurricular work.

Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said as with all audits, some of the findings are subjective and that others showed areas where improvements are needed in the school system’s accounting process. “Overall, I thought the audit was fairly positive,” he said.

But one finding did prompt a rebuttal from Baer -- a criticism of the way that Duneland proceeded with several school roofing projects through an educational cooperative.

The audit says that roofing projects at Bailly, Brummitt and Liberty elementary schools, Westchester Intermediate and Chesterton Middle School were done by Tremco Inc. or by its subsidiary, Waterproofing Technologies. The school system did not bid the projects itself, since the materials were purchased through the Wilson Education Service Center, with bid specifications determined by the Association of Education Purchasing Agencies.

The audit notes that in late 2008, the Indiana Attorney General’s office issued an official opinion that roofing projects are considered public works projects, and as such, contracts are required. The audit says Duneland officials could not provide a contract for the work and did not have an architect to oversee the projects. The audit cites a statute requiring a contract for all projects exceeding $100,000, and another statute that requires these large projects to proceed only in accordance with plans and specifications approved by an architect or licensed engineer.

Baer said he takes exception to this finding, since the cooperative purchasing was allowed by the state. He said that since the Attorney General’s finding, Duneland has stopped using the cooperative for roofing projects and might cease making other large purchases, such as for buses, through the educational agency as well.

He said the cooperative purchasing saves the school system money, not only because Duneland does not have to pay architect and other professional fees, but also because of the time that it takes for Duneland staff to handle the bid work themselves. He also noted that many other schools have used the state-approved cooperative for its large-scale projects.

The state’s audit, which was posted on the Indiana Board of Accounts’ webpage on Friday, covered the period from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008. Some other audit findings:

*A Title I aide and a cafeteria worker recorded time worked on their time sheets on a date in which the school was closed for a holiday; the same aide twice recorded time worked for a scheduled day off and for a day the school was closed due to a snow day. Baer said no employee has been paid for not working and that what likely happened in these cases were that the time sheets were submitted in advance of the actual days in question.

*Temporary loans for $48,061 and $97,612 were made in the 06-07 and 07-08 school years from the general fund to the bus replacement fund that were not repaid by the end of the year as the state requires.

*Credit cards used for travel expenses did not document who traveled or the nature of the travel. Interest was incurred and paid due to untimely remittance of the bills. The audit says that payments to credit cards must include supporting documents and not just based on credit card bills. Also, any interest or penalty incurred is the responsibility of the official or employee involved, the audit says. The audit also states the school board has not adopted a resolution authorizing the use of credit cards by the individual schools.

*Payments were made to the school corporation attorney, a computer technician and a roofing contractor without a contract in place.

*School board minutes did not state which bid for new busses purchased through the Northwestern Indiana Educational Service Center were deemed the lowest and most responsive. Also, the audit says the bid was awarded by the director of transportation, not the school board.

*School employees who worked at sporting events in jobs such as ticket takers and time keepers were paid by using an extra-curricular claim process, instead of through the school corporation’s payroll process. The audit notes that because the payroll process is bypassed, pay is not accumulated to determine if the individuals’ income should be reported.

*At Bailly Elementary, a substitute office worker was paid $10 hourly, though the hourly rate of pay for such substitutes as approved by the school board was $9. Also, the audit says checks for $245, $680 and two for $500 were issued for purchases without vendor invoices included.