Hempfield schools get clean report in new state audit

The Hempfield Area School District received a clean bill of health from the state auditor general’s office, according to a performance audit report released Wednesday.

The audit, which reviewed how the district uses state funds and subsidies for areas including transportation, educating nonresident students and meeting bus driver requirements, found that the district was in compliance with state laws and regulations from 2013-17, according to the report.

Findings related to school safety are not shared publicly “due to the sensitive nature of this issue,” the report said.

The audit also found that the district corrected prior issues related to errors in reporting student data to the state.

Those previous reporting errors resulted in about $80,000 worth of payments in state subsidies to the district related to tuition for students living outside the district — for example, those living in foster care — as well as errors in reporting the number of special needs and nonpublic school students transported to other locations by the district.

A prior audit of the district found that the district did not have bus drivers’ qualifications on record. Though most of those errors have been corrected, the most recent audit recommends that the district put procedures in place to monitor whether companies that contract with the district are using only school board-approved drivers to transport students.