Comptroller: Walton Central School didn't keep track of technology

Apr. 6—The state Comptroller's Office said in an audit report the Walton Central School District didn't properly track or maintain information technology inventory records.

The office audited records from July 1, 2019 through July 29, 2022, having expanded the audit period "to observe inventory at the district," a media release from the comptroller's office said.

Auditors selected 57 IT assets to confirm their location and that they were inventoried, and 10 additional IT assets to confirm they were inventoried.

According to the report, they found that 51% of the sampled assets were not properly accounted for. They included: 10 Chromebooks that could not be physically located (one with a purchase price of $228 and nine with combined estimated costs of $2,052 based on recent purchase prices), and 24 IT assets (20 with a combined purchase/lease price of $107,183 and four without recorded costs) that were not inventoried.

The audit also said that annual inventories were not conducted and officials did not adopt a comprehensive written policy for establishing and maintaining IT equipment inventory.

Auditors gave several recommendations. They included adopting "a specific comprehensive written policy to appropriately track and inventory IT equipment. The policy should include guidance and processes for: maintaining detailed, up-to-date inventory records for all IT equipment, adding new equipment to the inventory, notifying the IT department when equipment is reassigned, lost or stolen, documenting and updating the inventory for equipment disposal, and annually reviewing the physical inventory, the release said.

Furthermore, the auditors recommended that the IT director should perform a physical inventory of all IT equipment, locate missing and unaccounted-for equipment and update inventory records accordingly.

That includes ensuring all IT assets are inventoried and recorded, updating inventory records to remove assets approved for disposal by the board and performing a complete, annual physical inventory and comparing the results to the inventory records.

Superintendent Michael A. MacDonald responded to the audit by letter on Jan. 9. In the letter, he said the district disagrees with the statement that 51% of assets were unaccounted for.

The letter says that of the 67 assets included, 24 assets were properly represented in BOCES inventory records and that BOCES is the "rightful owner of the devices." The letter said that if those 24 assets are removed, the actual percentage of unaccounted for assets would be 15%.

Furthermore, the letter says that "13 of the 17 student devices were purchased outside the scope dates of the audit report and were not in use." That includes seven of the 10 Chromebooks, one of which was "lost in house fire."

The letter also cites written policy 8630, which relates to "Computer Resources and Data Management", which was adopted in Nov. 2019, according to the letter.

The letter said that while the district disagrees with areas of the audit report, they "value the recommendations received and will continue to strive for increased effectiveness" in IT asset control.