Findings of Schools Audit Disclosed

The Inglewood Unified School District entered the final chapter of its tale of misappropriated funds and management oversights Thursday when district officials discussed publicly the recommendations made in a 10-month audit of the district.

Spurred by an alleged embezzlement scheme in which a custodial supervisor reportedly robbed the district of $441,000, the audit found that the district’s financial situation posed a threat to the district’s survival and that operating policies were inadequate.

In addition, the audit found that the people who oversaw the custodial unit were either “highly incompetent, grossly negligent and/or complicit in the alleged fraudulent activities.”

The supervisor, Andrew Truesdale, has been charged with embezzling district funds by placing phantom employees on the payroll.

School Board President Gloria Gray said the public meeting was the culmination of an unfortunate but necessary investigation of the district, which has been plagued by financial trouble and mismanagement. The final report, which evaluated the district over a five-year period, shows that nearly $1.4 million from the custodial maintenance budget is still unaccounted for.

“The report looks at a lot of funds very thoroughly and shows that this kind of activity has been going on for a long time,” Gray said. “We want accountability and we plan to put Fuller’s recommendations into place.”

The Fuller Co. has recommended that the district restructure its staff, conduct a physical inventory of all its property and equipment, develop a system to better track the payroll and monitor its overtime budget.

The report also suggests that the district oversee its expenditures more closely.

Richard Bertain, assistant superintendent of business services, said the district staff is already following recommendations in the report to ensure that the same kinds of improprieties do not happen again.

The board will evaluate suggestions and concerns from the public and district employees before it moves ahead with a plan to implement the audit’s recommendations.

“We want to create a system that will eliminate these kinds of problems,” Gray said. “We are hoping now that we will be able to put this behind us and move forward.”