[Busmgrs] District Best Business Practices Advisory Committee - UPDATE

[EVANS Gene]

To: All Superintendents, District Business Officials
Re: District Best Business Practices Advisory Committee

Summary: This communication provides an update on advisory committee activities, including the audit of Multnomah ESD, and requests school districts to volunteer for an audit of business practice areas.

As you know, the Oregon Legislature created the District Best Business Practices Advisory Committee (DBBPAC) to advise the Department of Education (ODE) on the development of a system for auditing the business practices of school districts and education service districts (HB 3141, 2007).

Since its formation in October 2007, the DBBPAC has recommended audit criteria in the areas of new construction and purchasing and contracting. The committee is currently working on food services and will take up the area of transportation in November. Other business practices to be considered are grounds maintenance, building and systems maintenance, and financial practices.

Committee information posted online includes detailed meeting minutes, best practices criteria recommended by the DBBPAC and approved by the ODE, and other resources related to best practices:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1637

The committee also recommended that all audits have two guiding principles:

First, an audit identifies the positive accomplishments of a district in achieving sound business operations to ensure fiscal responsibility, taking into account local priorities and objectives, in order to share best practices identified in the audit with all school districts and ESDs in the development of a toolkit to serve district boards, administrators and business officials.

Second, an audit identifies the area in which a school district could improve its practice and gives the district ideas for how to remedy these areas. Ideas can come from National State Auditors Association Standards or equivalent resources, or the Best Practices toolkit developed from audits of other school districts.

Multnomah Education Service District volunteered for the first audit. ODE contracted with the Secretary of State to conduct the audit of purchasing practices, which is currently in the report drafting stage. The audit report will be available during the week of November 15, 2008 on the Secretary of State's website at http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/reports/index.html.

The DBBPAC is seeking additional school districts and ESDs that would like to volunteer for an audit in the business practice areas with adopted criteria. The committee is looking for diversity in size and geographic location.

For more information, contact Adrienne Sexton, Office of the Superintendent
Adrienne.Sexton at state.or.us <mailto:Adrienne.Sexton at state.or.us>
(503) 947-5887

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