Audit: Westbury schools lost $250G

The Westbury school district lost as much as $250,000 in revenue by failing to claim Medicaid reimbursements it was entitled to in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to an audit by the state comptroller's office.

The report released Thursday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that because the district lacked policies and procedures, its staff did not submit claims for special education services provided to Medicaid-eligible students.

"We've already started addressing the concerns in the audit," Westbury Superintendent Constance Clark-Snead said. "We'll be moving forward to ensure that we can actually get the reimbursement monies that they feel we are entitled to."

The six-school district had 220 Medicaid-eligible students at that time.

The largest source of potential lost revenue was for 101 students in individualized education programs whose parents did not provide the required consent for the services.

Auditors estimated that the district could have submitted claims for $444,276 in these services, and the district would have been reimbursed $111,069. New York State would have received the same amount.

The comptroller's office urged the district "to pursue parental consents diligently."

In a three-page response, the district said its office of pupil personnel services, overseen by a management advisory group, was continually working to secure updated parental consent forms.

The lost reimbursements also included $25,375 for case managers' work and $5,224 for special transportation as well as other services.