Audit Objective
Did Franklin Square Union Free School District (District) officials ensure the District’s website provided the public with transparent and comprehensive financial and administrative information?
Audit Period
July 1, 2023 – April 17, 2025
Understanding the Audit Area
Various laws and regulations require school district officials to post certain financial and administrative information on a school district’s website to help enhance the public’s access to basic information. School district officials should provide comprehensive financial and administrative information to the public in a transparent manner by making information easily accessible for review on the district’s website so that the community and other interested parties can make informed decisions.
The District uses a vendor to maintain the District’s website. The Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Management (ASFM) is responsible for ensuring financial and administrative information is posted on the District’s website and the Superintendent of Schools (Superintendent) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) contained within New York State Public Officers Law Section 89.
Audit Summary
District officials did not ensure the District’s website provided the public with transparent and comprehensive financial and administrative information. As a result, the community and other interested parties could not readily access and review District information to make informed decisions.
The following required financial and administrative information was not posted on the District’s website:
- Final annual budgets for fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- The District’s 2023-24 school district report card with student graduation rates and safety information.
- The District’s 2023-24 property tax report card with budget comparisons, tax levy comparisons, fund balance information and schedule of the District’s reserve funds.
- Annual external audit reports and related corrective action plans (CAP) addressing findings in the management letters for fiscal years ending June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2024.
- FOIL online submission request for records.
By not posting the required financial and administrative information on the District’s website, District officials limited the taxpaying community and other interested parties’ ability to readily access information and review documents to make informed decisions.
The report includes three recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the District’s website transparency to provide required comprehensive financial information to the public. District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have taken corrective action.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The District Board (Board) has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written CAP that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report must be prepared and provided to our office within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of the New York State General Municipal Law, Section 2116-a (3)(c) of the New York State Education Law and Section 170.12 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. To the extent practicable, implementation of the CAP must begin by the end of the next fiscal year. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer to our brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. The CAP should be posted on the District’s website for public review.