YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

September 3, 2003

Report No. 2003-89

School Districts Accountability for Travel Expenditures May Be Questionable

The State Auditor’s Office has audited the travel expenditures for public school districts in Missouri.  School districts spent approximately $30 million on travel during fiscal year ended June 30, 2002 according to the Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR).  This review of 207 (40%) of the 524 school districts included $24 million (80%) of the total $30 million spent on travel expenditures.  The State Auditor requested travel expenditures for school board members and officials and employees of the district.  (See page 10) 

Accountability of school travel expenditures is questioned as only half of the schools selected for our review could report travel expenditures in the detail originally requested.  Some of the school districts that completed the initial request indicated that their accounting system did not have this information in the detail requested and that many files and records had to be reviewed to provide such detail.  Many other schools indicated additional time and cost would be involved in order to provide the detail of the initial request and as a result, a follow-up request was later sent to applicable school districts requesting travel expenditure information in a different format. (See page 11)  The schools that satisfied the follow-up request submitted a report summarizing the travel expenditures detailed by the methodology used by the school district along with a written statement describing how the methodology used provided accountability for the travel costs incurred. 

The reporting styles (travel detailed by buildings, programs, various staff positions, etc) used by school districts displays travel expenditures in various formats.  It is unclear how the various reporting styles used by school districts ensure the overall accountability for travel costs.  School district officials would be able to better monitor the travel expenditures that pertain to conference/seminar registration fees, mileage expense, commercial transportation, lodging, meals, etc. if additional tracking was performed. During difficult budgetary times, additional accountability of travel costs would help a school district better monitor and account for travel costs. 

As many school districts’ accounting systems were apparently not designed to allow for consistency and comparability among schools, more accountability is necessary.  Given the $30 million spent on school district travel, the DESE and the individual school districts should ensure higher accountability standards for travel expenditures incurred.

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