SAYREVILLE – No recommendations for corrective action were made following the 2018-19 audit of the Sayreville School District.
Board members approved the action plan for the comprehensive annual financial report and auditor’s management report, which includes the audit, for the 2018-19 school year on Jan. 21. The fiscal year covered by the audit ended June 30, 2019.
In accordance with state law, the governing body of every municipality and school district must have an annual audit of its books, accounts and financial transactions. The school district’s audit was conducted by the firm of Suplee, Clooney & Company.
By accepting the audit, the board acknowledged there are no auditor’s recommendations for the 2018-19 school year.
The board also certified to the state’s Local Finance Board that all members of the board reviewed, as a minimum, the sections of the audit titled General Comments and Recommendations.
Because no recommendations were made in the audit, no corrective action plan for 2018 or 2019 is required nor necessary.
Prior to the board’s vote on accepting the audit, board President Kevin Ciak praised Business Administrator Erin Hill and her office for their work in ensuring there were no recommendations made in the audit.
“I want to offer my accommodations to you and your business office on the phenomenal job keeping the books in the past year,” Ciak said. “We had a phenomenal meeting with the auditor. The auditor was very complimentary, not only of the manner in which the books were kept, but very complimentary of the fact that whatever questions he asked, Ms. Hill had an answer without having to dig and come up with an answer. She knew it off the top of her head. On top of that, he was very complimentary of our surplus.”
Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe added, “I was only in there for a brief portion of the meeting this evening, but for the brief time I was in there, I heard words that I’ve never heard before during an audit meeting. I’ve sat in on many of audit presentations and summaries by the auditors, but I’ve never heard within those meetings phrases like ‘ahead of the curve’ and ‘model district.’
“In fact, he went on to say that he has basically used some of the things that Erin has done and talked to other districts about doing those same things,” Labbe continued. “I just couldn’t be more proud with where we are and how far we’ve come with regard to that and the incredible work. I know she’s there until 8 nearly every night and it really does reflect in that audit.”