Following a critical state audit of the Rockwood School District back in February, Missouri Auditor Tim Schweich said Wednesday that the district has made tremendous progress.
His previous audit found the district overpaid a construction company $1.2 million, which is one of
the few issues still unresolved.
Schweich recommended a variety of reforms for Rockwood, from fuel usage and inventory policies to program management services.
“It’s not that often that I get to deliver a good news story," Schweich said. "It’s not that often people are interested in a good news story, but I will tell you the people in Rockwood should be very pleased with the enthusiasm they had for implementing these recommendations that was then matched by a very well-organized process for implementing them."
Brown says all of the auditor’s proposed reforms have been implemented or are in progress within the Rockwood School District. Schweich detailed 7 reform areas:
- Program Management Services, Change Orders, and Conflict of Interest
- Bond Financing
- Procurement Cards
- Procurement Procedures
- Receipting Procedures
- Capital Assets and Fuel Usage
- Attendance Reporting Controls
The district kept an online record of changes, which was available to the public, as they were made.
Among the specific reforms made were terminations of board members with conflicts of interest, new processes for recording inventory, and new attendance reporting controls.
President of Rockwood’s Board of Education Bill Brown said the district “took our medicine in public, and we’re glad to get our physical in public as well."
Brown said he is eager to find out how much of the $1.2 million the district can get back.
“I think the time frame is sooner rather than later—maybe as soon as the end of this next month," he said. "We’ve asked for an independent person that was hired by our law firm to look into this. It’s a person that is an expert in the field, and we’re looking forward to those results.”