The state-run Recovery School District's problems with overpaying employees who no longer work for it have continued for a third straight year, although to a reduced extent, according to a new report released by the state's legislative auditor Monday.
'These findings have to stop happening. That's the bottom line,' State Sen. Ed Murray said.The report also rapped the district for making some late payments to vendors for a second straight year and for failing to adequately track equipment such as laptops, among other concerns.
RSD officials said they've made significant progress on reducing overpayments, adding that most of the problems predate current district leaders, including RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas. In general, they attributed many of the findings to the fact that, because the RSD is a state agency that was created quickly after Hurricane Katrina, it's hamstrung by financial and accounting rules that don't apply to other school districts.
"A lot of these are penny-ante things that are a product of us being subjected to rules and regulations that no other school districts are subjected to," Vallas said.
However, members of the legislative audit advisory council, made up of state lawmakers, grilled Vallas and State Superintendent Paul Pastorek for hours on Monday morning at a meeting held in the Superdome.
RSD officials said they've made significant progress on reducing overpayments, adding that most of the problems predate current district leaders, including RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas. In general, they attributed many of the findings to the fact that, because the RSD is a state agency that was created quickly after Hurricane Katrina, it's hamstrung by financial and accounting rules that don't apply to other school districts.
"A lot of these are penny-ante things that are a product of us being subjected to rules and regulations that no other school districts are subjected to," Vallas said.
However, members of the legislative audit advisory council, made up of state lawmakers, grilled Vallas and State Superintendent Paul Pastorek for hours on Monday morning at a meeting held in the Superdome.