Kimball schools lack segregation of duties

Julie Peetz an auditor with Rauner & Associates of Sidney conducted the 2014-15 audit for Kimball Public Schools. Peetz reported to the Kimball Board of Education at their meeting Monday night regarding just two findings of during the audit.

The first was a lack of segregation of duties, according to Peetz. This is due to one person filling multiple roles in the business office. Kimball Public Schools, like many small districts, does not have a full business staff.

“Probably 99 percent of all the schools in Nebraska have this,” Peetz said. “We just like to make you aware of it and encourage the board to be involved in questions, look at the invoices, questions bills and look at the financial statements.”

The second finding was an operational loss in the special building fund.

“That is common in a building fund, because you put money in and then you spend it in certain years but not in other years,” Peetz said.

The board heard a report from Kimball High School principal Eugene Hanks that a Kimball student is scheduled to graduate from Valley Alternative Learning Transition (VALTS) in December.

VALTS offers students from nine area schools, including Kimball, a chance to graduate while faced with circumstances that may make receiving a diploma nearly impossible otherwise.

Nearly 500 students have received a diploma through the program and Hanks added that he and high school guidance counselor Chauncey Pedersen will attend the ceremony to hand the student a Kimball diploma following the ceremony.

Director of Special Services, Jamie Soper, updated the board on the concussion team, new to the district this year, which includes partnering with Kimball Health Services.

“We did develop a form for doctors to fill out for the kids to bring back with them to the school so we know exactly where the kid is, meaning there is a return to play policy and a return to learn policy,” Soper said.

Soper added that, following a concussion, students would be rated consistently on a scale of one through five, allowing staff to know when the student is safe to return to classrooms and sports teams.

Soper further reported that each classroom in the high school is now a Google classroom.

Teachers post items to their Google classroom and students will receive an email alerting them to the post. They can then log in to see the post.

“Every student has been invited and every student has accepted the invitation so they are able to get what they are intended to get,” Soper said. “It is great to see how different teachers are using it in different ways. And kids are now commenting back to teachers on the google classrooms so they are really using it effectively.”