March 28, 2024

Mid Designer

Breakaway from the pack

DiNapoli: School Districts Need to Improve Oversight of Technology Equipment

Audits of 20 school districts across New York point out discovered a lot of could not often find details technologies (IT) property this sort of as laptop computer pcs, tablets and monitors did not generally preserve data of people assets and frequently failed to safeguard them from theft or harm. As a result, virtually $22 million well worth of IT property ordered or leased all through the audit period of time have been subject to prospective theft, loss or misuse, according to a report launched currently by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“The COVID-19 pandemic forced faculty districts to promptly adapt to a new atmosphere, utilizing technology to go to remote and hybrid mastering,” DiNapoli reported. “This essential shelling out considerable funds on IT belongings. District officials need to be certain these units are tracked and protected so taxpayers know their funds is not staying squandered.”

For the audit time period of July 1, 2019 to March 31, 2022, auditors picked 1,155 IT property to verify they ended up inventoried in college districts’ data and chosen 945 of these to see if they could be located. Additional than 20% of the belongings, worth approximately $280,000, were not properly accounted for. Though 3 districts — East Quogue Union Cost-free Faculty District, Elmsford Union Totally free University District and Phoenix Central School District — were being ready to find all gear, 17 could not track down more than 100 assets value somewhere around $32,700, which include 81 Chromebooks worth $18,400. Auditors observed 15% of the sampled assets were not provided in the districts’ inventories.

From the inventory information examined at the 20 districts, auditors reviewed 95,750 asset entries and located virtually 4,400 experienced missing or duplicated serial numbers and close to 4,800 have been missing areas or the names of assigned staff, generating them difficult, if not impossible, to locate.

8 districts did not have ample protections to preserve devices from staying misplaced or destroyed. Auditors found computer systems and other items stored in unlocked rooms, hallways or in places at danger of, or demonstrating, drinking water hurt.

The districts’ IT department staff frequently explained to auditors they did not have time to perform bodily inventories mainly because their workloads elevated throughout the pandemic. Even so, auditors observed districts manufactured sizeable investments in IT property during this period and the want to thoroughly account for them also increased.

DiNapoli’s auditors also observed:

  • None of the 20 districts executed strategies for correctly tracking IT devices stock.
  • Nineteen districts did not inventory all IT assets or carry out annual inventories.
  • Thirteen districts did not have helpful treatments to retrieve or recover pupil-assigned products when a scholar left the district.
  • Charges for virtually 75,400 IT property and acquisition dates for about 62,000 IT assets have been not mentioned in the stock records districts taken care of.

DiNapoli’s auditors produced numerous recommendations to the districts and their boards, such as:

  • Be certain stock documents include the aspects required to sufficiently monitor and identify belongings and that asset data, at a minimum amount, involve: the make, product and serial number the identify of the particular person to whom the device is assigned, if applicable the bodily site of the asset and applicable acquire or lease info such as the first cost, depreciation and acquisition date.
  • Execute a full, yearly actual physical inventory and look at the success to the stock information. Update inventory records to monitor property not provided in district data.
  • Create a course of action to retrieve university student products when the pupil leaves the school.
  • Be certain IT belongings are correctly accounted for, protected, and safe and sound from environmental damage.

Report
IT Asset Management


Observe condition and community authorities expending at Open Ebook New York. Less than State Comptroller DiNapoli’s open details initiative, search millions of condition and neighborhood government economic documents, monitor condition contracts, and uncover commonly asked for information.

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