Tighten controls, inform the public

An auditor has sounded a clarion call about financial security problems in Grayslake Elementary District 46 the type that could create a breeding ground for shenanigans that have stained other agencies.

Shelly Casella-Dercole, a partner in a McHenry accounting firm, presented audit findings at a school board meeting last week that cited questionable student activity funds and easy access to checks with automated signatures, among other concerns.

District 46 officials said they weren't surprised to find areas in need of improvement and should have been corrected years ago. Administrators pledged to make changes and said work is under way.

That's great knowing about a problem is a good start.

But we think the issue is serious enough that the district should do more, like create a detailed plan and timeline to address all concerns raised by the audit and tell the public what's being done. Open and transparent.

Then, and only then, will we or the public be assured the shortcomings have been studied and corrected in a timely fashion to protect taxpayer dollars.

This is nothing to be trifled with, ignored and allowed to languish on a bureaucratic checklist to be tackled later.

Metra and the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County are among the agencies that have learned that the hard way, as lax oversight and a lack of checks and balances led to missing money and ugly headlines about investigations.

In the case of District 46, the problems were identified before anything bad happened.

In general, the audit firm's recommendations called for improving internal controls.

That should not minimize the seriousness of the situation.

Casella-Dercole pointed to student activity funds as a concern. She questioned the existence of something called the Common Fund, which went from a $13,678 balance in July 2009 to $170 in the red a year later.

Activity funds are supposed to be for something connected to students and not fueled with public money, she said. Schools are supposed to hold and manage that money for student groups.

The audit found 24 activity funds with negative balances, something Casella-Dercole said should never happen.

She has some experience in dealing with the fallout from these types of problems. Her firm was brought in to make recommendations in 2004 to Warren Township High School District 121 after Principal Philip Roffman pleaded guilty to illegally spending student activity fund money.

That case shows the risk is too great for anything less than shoring up all concerns and disclosing what's been done.