Audit: Lax financial controls at Achievement School District

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2b54Bg6) that the review by the state comptroller's Division of Audit found that Achievement School District had a lack of control over even basic internal functions.

The Achievement School District manages five public schools and oversees private charter groups that operate 24 other schools that fall in the bottom 5 percent of statewide test scores. The audit found that problems with the way the district handled payroll, travel expenses and credit cards.

In one case, the auditors discovered that a former worker had been paid $5,895 after leaving employment of the Achievement School District.

Even while the audit was underway, the state Education Department jumped in to wrest back control over the Achievement School District's financial dealings. Commissioner Candice McQueen's staff told auditors that the department was hiring a new fiscal director, fiscal manager, accountant, account tech, federal programs director and federal programs manager.

The state audit follows one released by the U.S. Department of Education in March of Tennessee's federal Race to the Top grant, which included money spent on the creation of the Achievement School District.

"This federal audit identified similar internal control deficiencies and areas of federal noncompliance with the Race to the Top grant at ASD," according to the state audit.