In the state’s most recent audit of the Department of Education, released Wednesday, auditors noted that it would take the state at least 22 years to audit all of its 23 magnet schools run by regional educational service centers (RESC’s), which the state contributed $155 million to in grant money. This leaves the state with a “very limited” ability to review its magnet schools and increases the chances of overpayment to the schools.
For instance, the audit found that one of the magnet schools it did review was overpaid by about $100,000 due to a variance between the enrollment count reported by the school and the count by the audit unit, the report said.
“Due to the low frequency of audit review, such overpayments may exist in other magnet school without a chance for discovery,” the report read.
The auditors also said that this problem is likely to become worse as the number of magnet schools in the state are expected to grow from 61 to 70 in the next few years.