Superintendent's Response to Comptroller's Report

6:46 PM EDT, August 7, 2006

This is the superintendent's response to the Comptroller's audit of the William Floyd Union Free School District. It is submitted in addition to the formal school district response. I feel this is necessary given the tone and tenor of the audit report and some of the specific allegations of inappropriate conduct set forth therein.

The Board and I have worked diligently and continuously to strengthen our financial controls and Board transparency. From its tone and content, this audit report is clearly not about helping improve practice. Minimal credit is given for the significant improvements we have made in all areas of our business function. The report fails to note that during and prior to the audit period the Board and I have been proactive in adopting seventy-five new policies or regulations, twenty-one of which specifically relate to our business function. The report also fails to note that of the thirty-eight original audit recommendations, twenty-seven had already been implemented before the audit began.

At best, the audit report contains ill-conceived, misinformed and incendiary statements in an attempt to sensationalize the "facts," particularly as they pertain to me.

It is troubling that, from the outset, William Floyd has been treated differently. At a school board conference two years ago, the Comptroller himself erroneously announced my arrest. More recently, the district was treated differently during the exit interview process. After eight months of review by state auditors, we were told we would get the draft audit report at the exit conference. When we requested it sooner so that the conference would be more beneficial, it was provided 24 hours in advance. Within those twenty-four hours, we produced documentation that demonstrated that several aspects of the report were in error -- many pertained to me personally.

William Floyd was then given 15 days to respond. Regular audit protocol, outlined at our entrance interview, called for 30 days. Only after several appeals was the District finally allotted the 30 days that every other district has been afforded.

Within the 30 day period, the Board produced more than 250 pages of documents, including some that the auditors either missed or ignored. The District received its final report on Monday, August 7th, 2006, at 10 a.m. by FedEx. We learned that many media outlets had the report at least a day before us.

Not one representative from the Comptroller's Office sought to interview a single Board member or me personally regarding any events at issue, despite unfettered access to me, the Board, and the Board's counsel. In particular, the Comptroller persists in claiming that I granted myself raises and benefits even after being presented with data that demonstrated that the Board formally approved such raises.

The only item an auditor ever questioned me directly about was the Montauk Highway Project. My involvement was explained explicitly as was its relationship to my role as superintendent.

Where valid, the Board has admitted, apologized, and corrected any procedural errors which may have occurred in the past concerning a variety of issues, including my contract, yet there is complete agreement by Board members, past and present, about my contractual entitlements. As the Comptroller states in his report, the Board has the right (and the responsibility) to correct its' mistakes retroactively. The Board has done so and has done so publicly. Again, I have at no time approved any raises or benefits for myself nor have I received any raises or benefits that the Board did not approve in advance.

The Board's detailed response to every issue raised in the Comptroller's final report, including those pertaining directly to me and my contract, complete with appendices A through EE (not contained in the Comptroller's Report) containing documents that support every claim we make, will be made available for review on our website (www.wfsd.k12.ny.us). The documents clarify our position on every issue raised.

Over the last three years the Board and I have accepted responsibility for bringing those that stole from us to justice. We embarked on an unprecedented introspection of our policies and practice in concert with our attorney's and auditors. Regardless of this report and its incendiary tone, I want to personally assure the William Floyd community that taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately and that I have and will continue to work with the Board to implement every sound financial practice we can to insure the district's fiscal integrity and the quality of education for the children of the district.