GADSDEN COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

REPORT NO. 2014-115 MARCH 2014

GADSDEN COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Students and Student Transportation

For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2013

BOARD MEMBERS AND SUPERINTENDENT

Gadsden County District School Board members and the Superintendent of Schools who served during the 2012-13 fiscal year are listed below:

Member

District No.

Eric F. Hinson, Vice Chair to 11-19-12

1

Judge B. Helms, Jr., Chair to 11-19-12

2

Isaac Simmons, Jr., Chair from 11-20-12

3

Charlie D. Frost

4

Roger P. Milton, Vice Chair from 11-20-12

5

Reginald C. James, Superintendent

The examination team leader was Jeremy D. Smith, CPA, and the examination was supervised by Aileen B. Peterson, CPA, CPM. Please address inquiries regarding this report to J. David Hughes, CPA, Audit Manager, by e-mail at davidhughes@aud.state.fl.us or by telephone at (850) 412-2971.

This report and other reports prepared by the Auditor General can be obtained on our Web site at audgen; by telephone at (850) 412-2722; or by mail at G74 Claude Pepper Building, 111 West Madison Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1450.

MARCH 2014

REPORT NO. 2014-115

Gadsden County District School Board Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Students and Student Transportation

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2013

ELL ESE ESOL FAC FS IDEA IEP OJT PK

English Language Learner Exceptional Student Education English for Speakers of Other Languages Florida Administrative Code Florida Statutes Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Individual Educational Plan On-the-Job Training Prekindergarten

MARCH 2014

REPORT NO. 2014-115

Gadsden County District School Board Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Students and Student Transportation

TABLE OF CONTENTS For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2013

PAGE NO.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... i

FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) STUDENTS INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT ................................................................................................. 1 SCHEDULE A ? POPULATIONS, SAMPLES, AND TEST RESULTS ............................................ 4 SCHEDULE B ? EFFECT OF PROPOSED ADJUSTMENTS ON WEIGHTED FTE ................ 6 SCHEDULE C ? PROPOSED ADJUSTMENTS BY SCHOOL........................................................... 7 SCHEDULE D ? FINDINGS AND PROPOSED ADJUSTMENTS ................................................ 10 SCHEDULE E ? RECOMMENDATIONS AND REGULATORY CITATIONS......................... 18 NOTES TO SCHEDULES........................................................................................................................... 22

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT ............................................................................................... 26 SCHEDULE F ? POPULATIONS, SAMPLES, AND TEST RESULTS ........................................... 29 SCHEDULE G ? FINDINGS AND PROPOSED ADJUSTMENTS ................................................ 31 SCHEDULE H ? RECOMMENDATIONS AND REGULATORY CITATIONS ........................ 37 NOTES TO SCHEDULES........................................................................................................................... 38

MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE EXHIBIT A ? MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE..................................................................................... 40

MARCH 2014

REPORT NO. 2014-115

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF ATTESTATION EXAMINATION

Except for the material noncompliance described below involving teachers and reporting errors or records that were not properly or accurately prepared or were missing and could not be located for students in ESOL and ESE Support Levels 4 and 5, the Gadsden County District School Board complied, in all material respects, with State requirements regarding the determination and reporting of full-time equivalent (FTE) students under the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) and the number of students transported for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013:

Six of the 48 teachers in our sample did not meet State requirements governing certification, School Board approval of out-of-field teacher assignments, notification to parents regarding teachers' out-of-field status, and the earning of required in-service training points in ESOL strategies.

Ten of the 63 students in our ESOL sample and 7 of the 17 students in our ESE Support Levels 4 and 5 sample had exceptions involving reporting errors or records that were not properly or accurately prepared or were missing and could not be located.

Noncompliance related to reported FTE resulted in 22 findings. The resulting proposed net adjustment to the District's reported, unweighted FTE totaled to a negative 1.8578 but has a potential impact on the District's weighted FTE of a negative 16.5115. Noncompliance related to student transportation resulted in 7 findings and a proposed net adjustment of a negative 130 students.

Weighted adjustments to FTE are presented in our report for illustrative purposes only. The weighted adjustments to FTE do not take special program caps and allocation factors into account and are not intended to indicate the weighted FTE used to compute the dollar value of adjustments. That computation is the responsibility of the Department of Education. However, the gross dollar effect of our proposed adjustments to FTE may be estimated by multiplying the proposed net weighted adjustment to FTE by the base student allocation amount. For the Gadsden County District School Board, the estimated gross dollar effect of our proposed adjustments to reported FTE is a negative $59,160 (negative 16.5115 times $3,582.98).

We have not presented an estimate of the potential dollar effect of our proposed adjustments to student transportation because there is no equivalent method for making such an estimate.

The ultimate resolution of our proposed adjustments to FTE and student transportation and the computation of their financial impact is the responsibility of the Department of Education.

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MARCH 2014

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF GADSDEN COUNTY

REPORT NO. 2014-115

The District was established pursuant to Section 1001.30, Florida Statutes, to provide public educational services for the residents of Gadsden County. Those services are provided primarily to prekindergarten through twelfth grade students and to adults seeking career education-type training. The District is part of the State system of public education under the general direction and control of the State Board of Education. The geographic boundaries of the District are those of Gadsden County.

The governing body of the District is the District School Board that is composed of five elected members. The executive officer of the Board is the elected Superintendent of Schools. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013, the District operated 20 schools, 1 District cost center, and reported 1 virtual education cost center, serving prekindergarten through twelfth grade students, reported 5,561.53 unweighted FTE for those students, and received approximately $21.3 million in State funding through FEFP.

FLORIDA EDUCATION FINANCE PROGRAM (FEFP)

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Students

Florida school districts receive State funding through FEFP to serve prekindergarten through twelfth grade students (adult education is not funded by FEFP). FEFP was established by the Florida Legislature in 1973 to guarantee to each student in the Florida public school system the availability of programs and services appropriate to the student's educational needs which are substantially equal to those available to any similar student notwithstanding geographic differences and varying local economic factors. To provide equalization of educational opportunity in Florida, the FEFP formula recognizes: (1) varying local property tax bases, (2) varying program cost factors, (3) district cost differentials, and (4) differences in per-student cost for equivalent educational programs due to sparsity and dispersion of student population. The funding provided by FEFP is based upon the numbers of individual students participating in particular educational programs. A numerical value is assigned to each student according to the student's hours and days of attendance in those programs. The individual student thus becomes equated to a numerical value known as an unweighted FTE (full-time equivalent) student. For brick and mortar school students, one student would be reported as one FTE if the student was enrolled in six classes per day at 50 minutes per class for the full 180-day school year (i.e., six classes at 50 minutes each per day is 5 hours of class a day or 25 hours per week that equals one FTE). For virtual education students, one student would be reported as one FTE if the student has successfully completed six courses or credits or the prescribed level of content that counts toward promotion to the next grade. A student who completes less than six credits will be a fraction of an FTE. Half-credit completions will be included in determining an FTE. Credits completed by a student in excess of the minimum required for that student for graduation are not eligible for funding.

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MARCH 2014

Student Transportation

REPORT NO. 2014-115

Any student who is transported by the District must meet one or more of the following conditions in order to be eligible for State transportation funding: live two or more miles from school, be physically handicapped, be a Career Education 9-12 or an ESE student who is transported from one school center to another where appropriate programs are provided, or be on a route that meets the criteria for hazardous walking conditions specified in Section 1006.23(4), Florida Statutes. The District received approximately $1.6 million for student transportation as part of the State funding through FEFP.

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MARCH 2014

REPORT NO. 2014-115

DAVID W. MARTIN, CPA AUDITOR GENERAL

AUDITOR GENERAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

G74 Claude Pepper Building 111 West Madison Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1450

PHONE: 850-412-2722 FAX: 850-488-6975

The President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Legislative Auditing Committee

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT GADSDEN COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD FLORIDA EDUCATION FINANCE PROGRAM (FEFP)

FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) STUDENTS

We have examined the Gadsden County District School Board's compliance with State requirements governing the determination and reporting of the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students under the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013. These requirements are found primarily in Sections 1011.60, 1011.61, and 1011.62, Florida Statutes; State Board of Education Rules, Chapter 6A-1, Florida Administrative Code; and the FTE General Instructions 2012-13 issued by the Department of Education. As discussed in the representation letter, management is responsible for the District's compliance with State requirements. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the District's compliance based on our examination.

Our examination was conducted in accordance with attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the standards applicable to attestation engagements contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and, accordingly, included examining, on a test basis, evidence about the District's compliance with the aforementioned State requirements and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our examination provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. The legal determination of the District's compliance with these requirements is, however, ultimately the responsibility of the Department of Education.

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