Audit: Wyandanch schools overstated costs

The Wyandanch school district, frequently portrayed as the most financially troubled on Long Island, repeatedly overstated its employee costs and budget deficits, according to a new state audit. The report also concludes that much of the faulty bookkeeping was deliberate.

The audit report issued Wednesday by the state comptroller's office finds that "the district's financial condition is much better than has been reported."

In fact, state auditors conclude that Wyandanch closed the 2009-10 school year with its budget essentially balanced. In contrast, the district last spring reported a $1.36-million deficit - a figure repeated in a governor's report issued earlier this week.

Pless Dickerson, Wyandanch's interim schools chief for the past year, insisted Wednesday that his district faces fiscal stress nonetheless. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed a cut in the district's state aid of $2.4 million - equivalent to 4.4 percent of its budget. "We don't want to cry wolf," said Dickerson. "But the fact remains that we've always been underfunded."

Still, auditors' findings are in stark contrast to Wyandanch's frequent portrayal of itself as a district on the brink of bankruptcy. Just last week, district administrators met with state lawmakers in a bid to avoid aid cuts.

"I guess it's encouraging to know they're better off than the picture painted previously," said state Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), who represents the area. "But it's going to be a lot harder to make the case on their behalf."

The 2,040-student district is Long Island's poorest. Wyandanch depends on state aid for about 60 percent of its $55.1-million budget, and even the latest audit report does not contend that the district has adequate cash reserves.

However, auditors do find a pattern of financial practices in Wyandanch that were sloppy at best - and often deliberately misleading.

For example, auditors say the district incorrectly reported certain long-term and short-term employee costs. For the fiscal years ending in June 2007, 2008 and 2009, Wyandanch calculated such costs at about $1 million annually, auditors said. They added actual costs ranged from $100,000 to $156,000 a year.

Moreover, Wyandanch officials repeatedly overestimated state aid due the district. And auditors concluded this was no accident.

"Primarily, this was because District officials knowingly overestimated the amount of State aid they were to receive each year," states the audit report.

Dickerson contends the admittedly "optimistic scenarios" convinced voters to pass budgets that maintained student services while curbing taxes."