CADET, Mo. (News First) – Results of an audit, conducted by the Missouri State Auditor’s Office, on the Kingston K-14 School District in Washington County have been released.
The report says district controls and procedures over payroll needs improvement. The district has not adequately segregated payroll duties and no one performs an independent or supervisory review of payroll records. The district did not always ensure pay rates were accurate and adequately supported with at least one employee receiving more pay than authorized and others receiving salaries that could not be supported. The district paid $500 stipends, totaling $68,500, to all full-time employees that were not allowable by district policies, were insufficiently supported and unreasonable. The Board also violated the Missouri Constitution by paying retroactive extra-duty stipends to 13 employees totaling $2,600.
The Kingston district issued General Obligation bonds using a negotiated sale rather than a competitive sale process, did not solicit proposals for underwriting services, and received financial advisory services from the underwriter. Bonds totaling $3.35 million for the construction of a new high school gymnasium and other repairs and improvements to existing facilities were sold in a private sale without advertisement and the district’s bond underwriter received fees for the bond issuance totaling approximately $44,000.
The Kingston School Board did not always comply with the Sunshine Law or sufficiently document discussions to demonstrate Sunshine Law compliance. The Board did not document, in open meeting minutes, the specific reasons or sections of law allowing the meetings to be closed for any of the 27 closed meetings held from July 1st, 2022 to the end of 2023. The board also discussed and voted on some items in closed meetings that were not allowed under the Sunshine Law. Some closed meeting minutes did not include sufficient detail to ensure topics discussed were allowable and included little or no description of those topics discussed. There were several other findings in the report. Out of the grades of excellent, good, fair and poor, the school received a fair grade from this audit. To see the full audit report of the Kingston School District, go to the Missouri State Auditor’s website.
