Audit Objective
Did New York Mills Union Free School District (District) officials properly manage and monitor building access accounts and devices?
Audit Period
July 1, 2024 – November 30, 2025
We extended our audit period to April 14, 2026, to review access activity logs.
Understanding the Audit Area
Building access controls are essential for enhancing security and enabling school officials to manage and monitor entry points within educational institutions. These systems authenticate a user through devices such as key fobs, key cards, badges or similar technologies, helping to ensure only authorized individuals can enter school buildings. By limiting access in this way, schools can better safeguard their facilities and maintain a safe and secure environment for students, teachers, staff and visitors.
The District utilizes a building access management system (system) with 117 active building access accounts (accounts), including 74 devices issued to current employees and 43 issued to non-employees, of which two are shared devices.1 The District also had 177 inactive non-employee accounts and devices for first responders. Each of the District’s two school buildings has a single public point of entry. Employees may also access the buildings through additional secured entry points, which require a device for entry.
Audit Summary
District officials properly managed and monitored the District’s 117 active building access accounts and devices (badges). Except for minor discrepancies, District officials:
- Periodically reviewed active accounts and removed those that were no longer needed in a timely manner,
- Clearly assigned responsibilities for managing and monitoring active employee accounts, and
- Developed written procedures for adding accounts in the system for employees, issuing badges and monitoring the accounts and associated badges.
However, District officials did not ensure that an additional 177 non-employee badges issued for first responders remained active. Although District officials reactivated all 177 badges when we brought this issue to their attention, there was a potential risk that first responders could not access District school buildings when needed, compromising building security and safety for students, teachers, staff and visitors.
The report includes two recommendations that, if implemented, will help District officials improve management and monitoring of building access accounts and badges. District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and their response is included in Appendix B.
This audit was conducted pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC’s) authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (GML). The audit’s methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board of Education (Board) has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report must be prepared and provided to OSC within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of GML, 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 the CAP, please refer to the OSC brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which was provided with the draft audit report. The CAP should be posted on the District’s website for public review.
1 A shared account or device is assigned to a user for a specific role or function but not assigned to a specific individual (e.g., vendors or first responders).