[read complete report – pdf] | [read complete 2025 report – pdf]
Purpose of Review
The purpose of our review was to assess the Pine Plains Central School District’s (District) progress, as of September 2026, in implementing our recommendations in the audit report Pine Plains Central School District – Lead Testing and Reporting (S9-25-18), released in July 2025.
District officials did not properly identify, report or implement needed remediation to reduce lead exposure in all potable water outlets as required by NYS Public Health Law and Department of Health (DOH) regulations. We determined 12 of the 333 water outlets we identified at select areas, that students, staff and the public may have access to and could consume water from, were not sampled or properly exempted by District officials for Cycle Two. This occurred because District officials did not have a sampling plan to identify all water outlets for sampling or exemption.
The audit included seven recommendations to help the Board and District officials improve lead testing and reporting.
Background
The District serves the Towns of Clinton, Milan, Northeast, Pine Plains, and Stanford in Dutchess County and the Towns of Ancram, Clermont, Gallatin, and Livingston in Columbia County. The three school buildings are located on campuses in the Town of Pine Plains (One Elementary School and the Middle School/High School/District Office) and in the Town of Stanfordville (Elementary School). The District is governed by the elected seven-member Board. The Board is responsible for managing and controlling the District’s financial and educational affairs. The Superintendent is responsible, along with other administrative staff, for managing the District’s day-to-day operations under the Board’s direction The Superintendent designated the Director as the person responsible for coordinating and reporting all lead testing. The Director tasked the District Clerk with reporting the results to all required parties and posting the results to the District website.
Results of Review
We determined that of the four recommendations related to sampling, testing and remediation procedures, only one was fully implemented and three were partially implemented. Of the three recommendations related to reporting test results, two were fully implemented and one was partially implemented. Because District officials have not fully implemented all recommendations, the sampling plan and remedial action plan were incomplete, effective controls were not documented for all exempted water outlets or those exceeding the lead action level, and interested parties were not notified of all testing results in a timely manner.