State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement.
The
Hinds County School District (HCSD) could implement improvements and
cut outside-the-classroom spending to save up to $3.7 million annually,
according to a report released this week by State Auditor Shad
White. The school district has partnered with the State Auditor’s
office to analyze expenditure data and identify ineffective spending.
“Hinds
County Superintendent Martin personally volunteered the Hinds County
School District for this project,” said Auditor White. “I’m grateful for
her leadership and the chance to help the district
find ways to put more money in the classroom and toward teacher’s
salaries.”
The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor
also partnered with the advanced data analytics firm GlimpseK12 for this performance audit.
GlimpseK12
used data provided by the district to compare HCSD expenditures to
other school districts from across the region and country. Highlights
from the report include:
·
Data
showed certain education software programs are underutilized by
students and teachers. Underutilized software licenses cost the district
nearly $100,000 each year.
·
The
district recently reduced the number of schools operating in the
district, and this led to savings for the district’s transportation
services. However, data shows HCSD could optimize
its transportation system to realize over $800,000 of additional
savings each year.
·
The
report shows the district’s maintenance cost per square foot is
significantly higher than similar school districts across the region and
nation. By bringing these costs in line with
similar schools in the Southeast, the district could save nearly $1
million each year.
·
Within
HCSD, most purchases are made by individual schools or district
departments. While some of these purchases are made by taking
competitive bids, the district does not have any standard
bidding template. GimpseK12 recommends consolidating purchasing into a
district-wide function, which could lead to a 20% reduction in the cost
of commonly purchased goods and services.
"We
are proud to report that the Hinds County School District remains on
strong financial footing,” said Superintendent Martin. “The guidance
shared by GlimpseK12 will help us to continue our efforts
to effectively invest public funds in efforts that ensure every student
in our district has access to the resources they need to succeed."
“I
attended Mississippi public schools from grade school through college,”
said Auditor White, “so I’m committed to finding ways we can help
Mississippi’s children receive the best education possible.”
This
performance audit is the first of three district-level audits announced
by Auditor White in June 2020. Previous reports from the Auditor’s
office on outside-the-classroom spending showed
ballooning outside-the-classroom spending around the state,
a look at how Mississippi’s outside-the-classroom spending compares to other states,
and a study of the priority given to administrative pay raises.
This new performance audit report
can be found online at the Auditor’s website.
15 comments:
Think they will apply the suggestions? Nah......
So much waste; so much corruption.
“I attended Mississippi public schools from grade school through college, so I’m committed to finding ways we can help Mississippi’s children receive the best education possible.” So people that didn't attend public school aren't committed to helping children get the best education? Or should they just not be listened to if their parents sacrificed to try to get them a better education? Shad does a good job but the bowing and scraping that our politicians have to do to the public school lobby is depressing sometimes.
Bloated with administration feeding at the trough. Compare districts, and you'll see that Hinds makes others look like a lean, mean fighting machine. Get to know some of the top-heavies, and even the sharpest witted amongst us would be left speechless.
Shad needs to run for governor! Hell, He needs to run for President! If he does, I will give heavily.
Actually, I would disagree. They volunteered to go first in this program. Compared to JPS, Hinds school system is a lean mean fighting machine. And don't even get me started on how many mail-order PhD's we have across the state pulling down six figures to be "school administrators". The whole education system is a big racket.
NEWS UPDATE - All schools COULD save money. No schools WILL save money.
I think it's great that the District and the Auditor worked together to this point. Let's hope that they continue to work together on implementation.
Aroint thee, trolls. Go slide down a razor blade, one by one. Squeal like a pig.
Ole Shad Fauci is at it again.
Where did Shad say that administrative costs were out of control?
Hinds was the pilot project to let all the others know he's coming for them next. Yes, Hinds just wanted to get it over with quickly.
Betcha there's over half a billion in administrative positions that could be eliminated throughout the educational systems in Mississippi. Using Hinds as the baseline - $3.7 million times 151 districts (and Hinds was lean?) whoa - that's $558.7 million. Jesus.
And higher ed is even worse. But they're milking the federal financial aid money to prop up those obscene salaries. However, enrollment is flat-lining at some institutions because of bad management, yet an incompetent president might be paid twice what the Governor makes. Lunacy. No fiscal oversight whatsoever with business decisions that take place in the school districts, and the college fiefdoms. Yes, the biggest racket in Mississippi is "for the children". Not.
How about that audit of the Jackson City water and sewer department. Let's see it Shad!
How about that audit of the Airport's travel expenses.....oooo la la. Let's see it Shad!
Although I'm all in for raising salaries, it's none of Shad's damned business what a school district might 'do with the savings' as long as the savings go to legal expenditures.
@1:57pm Ahem, uh - you need to take a Government 101 class. it's more than Shad White's business fella, it's his entire job to see where the taxpayer's money is, where it's gone, or where it's going.
Business decisions in education at the local level are being scrutinized perhaps for the first time in maybe forever, and the ass of the corrupt educational industrial complex of Mississippi is puckering hard. Everyone knows there are far too many districts, too many BS administrators that aren't needed, and too much mingling or outright hiding of public money behind private donations or foundations.
All the while the youth of Mississippi is awarded "credits" but very little education - and leaves the state to boot.
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