State auditors cite St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES for information technology issues

Bob Beckstead, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·3 min read

Dec. 9—CANTON — The state Comptroller's Office says an audit of the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services showed that they failed to properly monitor and account for information technology assets.

However, BOCES Superintendent Thomas R. Burns said, the COVID-19 pandemic and a major capital project contributed to the organization's lack of monitoring and accountability.

Auditors said that, because BOCES officials did not properly monitor and account for IT assets, "officials cannot ensure that assets are in BOCES' possession and protected against loss or unauthorized use."

"Officials did not maintain accurate and up-to-date inventory records, affix identification tags to all assets, periodically conduct physical inventories, and ensure sensitive data was erased before assets with hard drives were disposed of," they said. "Sixty-nine out of 140 recorded IT assets could not be located. These assets cost $128,102 and included computers, projectors, interactive displays and cameras. Also, 30 out of 95 assets on hand were not listed in the inventory records."

In addition, auditors said, none of the 39 IT assets purchased and placed in service during the 2022-23 school year, totaling $50,018, were added to the inventory records, and none of the 25 computer disposals tested had evidence that the hard drives were sanitized prior to disposal.

They said 11 other computers were sanitized and disposed of, but were still active in the inventory records.

"The inventory records also did not always show the proper location of IT assets and sometimes were missing key information such as serial numbers, locations, purchase dates and costs," auditors said.

They recommended that BOCES officials ensure up-to-date and accurate IT inventory records be maintained.

"This includes adding IT asset purchases to the records, removing disposals, and indicating IT asset locations. The records should include key information such as serial number, location, purchase date and cost," they said.

They also recommended tagging IT assets to identify them as BOCES property, and require that periodic physical inventories be conducted, and appropriate action taken to follow up on any discrepancies and update the records as appropriate.

In addition, auditors recommended ensuring that hard drives were sanitized when disposing of IT assets. They also recommended establishing written procedures to provide guidance on maintaining the inventory records, performing physical inventories, and monitoring them for compliance.

"The procedures should address the detailed information that should be recorded in the records, the process for tagging assets when received and for recording purchases and disposals," auditors said.

In his written response, Burns said the pandemic was partly to blame for the lack of monitoring and accountability.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, the BOCES prioritized supporting our component districts and their needs. We shifted all 18 component districts and BOCES to remote instruction in less than a week. We also coordinated the serving of meals to students and families within hours of the start of the pandemic," he said. "As the regional leader, we administered all St. Lawrence County and New York State COVID protocols from March 2020 until the end of the 2022-23 school year, including serving as the COVID test reception and district site. We also experienced staffing shortages during this time which led to gaps in inventory tracking."

Burns said that in addition to the pandemic efforts, BOCES underwent a major capital project at all three of its technical education centers.

"This made it difficult to perform a physical inventory audit. Items were moved in and out of spaces during construction and work was often delayed due to material shortages," he said.

He said they had implemented corrective action on many of the recommendations contained in the audit.

"A physical inventory audit of all three technical education centers was done in summer 2023, and the inventory software is currently being reconciled to the physical audit," Burns said. "We have also trained the Assistant Purchasing Agent on the software and are in the process of cross training a back-up. We will continue to revise our Board of Education policies and administrative procedures to ensure that we are properly monitoring and accounting for IT assets."