State Auditors Find That School District Overpaid for Overtime
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- Written by Wendy MacMillan
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NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNaPoliAn audit of the Scarsdale School Districts overtime payments by the Office of the NY State Comptroller in the Spring of 2022 found that the district overpaid for overtime services for custodial services from July 1, 2020 to January 31, 2022.
At the Board of Education meeting on Monday December 18, 2022, Dr. Patrick explained that offices of municipalities are regularly audited every five years or so and the Scarsdale School district was last audited in 2016. In the spring of 2022 the State Comptroller focused on “Overtime” to “determine whether the Scarsdale Union Free School District (District) officials ensured overtime was properly approved, accurate and monitored”.
Dr. Patrick further explained that the audit looked at the period of time that fell during the Covid Pandemic when overtime was higher than usual. However, Dr. Patrick also admitted some mistakes were made as were highlighted in the Report of Examination.
As per the report, “Although overtime was properly approved, District officials did not monitor overtime to ensure it was accurate…In addition, District officials and department heads were not properly monitoring overtime charges. While the need for certain overtime can be difficult to anticipate, routine work for other events should be planned in a more cost-effective manner than using overtime. We found the District incurred overtime costs for the use of substitute staff, sporting events, cleaning and contractor visits, which could have been easily prevented with adequate planning and schedule adjustments.”
The report details a corrective plan of action which Dr. Patrick assures it is already in the works and should be wholly achieved by March 31st, 2023. For a look at the full report which could not be made public until Friday, December 16th, please click here:
The report explains:
"District officials did not properly monitor the use of overtime. During our audit period, the District paid approximately $1.23 million in overtime wages. We analyzed the overtime paid to 20 employees with the highest overtime charges for the audit period and reviewed all of their time records and payments totaling $524,934. Our review of the time records for these 20 employees found $447,485 (87 percent) of the overtime charges were for routine anticipated events that could have been avoided with scheduling adjustments (Figure 1). For example, had the District adjusted employee schedules, such as a Tuesday through Saturday work week or staggered work schedules, some of the overtime charges could have been avoided, and employees working on Saturday or after school hours could have been paid the regular rate. For example, we found that the District paid overtime, totaling $123,113 to six of the 20 employees in our sample to clean the school on Saturdays or after school hours, despite the District knowing that coverage would be needed ahead of time.
In addition, District officials and department heads were not properly monitoring overtime charges. While the need for certain overtime can be difficult to anticipate, routine work for other events should be planned in a more cost-effective manner than using overtime. We found the District incurred overtime costs for the use of substitute staff, sporting events, cleaning and contractor visits, which could have been easily prevented with adequate planning and schedule adjustments.
We determined that had the District adjusted employees’ schedules, some of these charges may have been avoided or paid at regular pay. As a result, the District could have saved over $155,516 in overtime expenses. District officials told us that the majority of overtime spending was due to custodial and maintenance staff overtime that was required to keep the buildings properly cleaned. However, the District did not perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether hiring additional staff or adjusted employees’ schedules could have reduced overtime expenses or the overall costs in wages paid. Because District officials did not ensure overtime was properly monitored and did not provide adequate review of time records, the District is spending more for overtime charges than necessary. Additionally, the increased overtime will also increase the amount owed by the District, annually to the State, for its share of the cost of the District’s employees’ retirement benefits."
Scarsdale Bowl Announces Spotlight Award
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Foundation will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023. Since its founding in 1923, the Foundation has quietly but effectively helped local individuals and community organizations through student scholarships and project grants.
In honor of its centennial, the Scarsdale Foundation will present a second award, in addition to the Bowl, called the Spotlight Award, at its annual dinner, to be held on April 27, 2023 at Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club. The dinner will pay tribute to the Bowl honoree, as always, while celebrating the spirit and culture of volunteerism in Scarsdale. The Spotlight Award will recognize an individual or an organization that has made a significant impact and brought about positive change in one targeted sphere of community engagement.
“The new award is meant to showcase another aspect of the incredible volunteer work done every day in Scarsdale,” says Scarsdale Foundation President Suzanne Seiden. “While the Bowl Award is Scarsdale’s highest honor given to a resident who has participated in multiple aspects of public service in the community over the course of some decades, the Spotlight Award is meant to call out folks who have focused on moving the needle in one area, and made significant progress.”
The Scarsdale Bowl Committee seeks a diversity of candidates for consideration for the Spotlight Award. To access the nomination form, click here.
Nominations will be accepted until December 23rd.
Questions? Please reach out to Erika Rublin, Bowl Chair at erublin@gmail.com. Additional information about the Scarsdale Foundation and the Scarsdale Bowl may be found at https://www.scarsdalefoundation.org/
From Boys to Men: Reshaping Manhood
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Reshaping our concept of manhood and challenging stereotypes is a key factor in reducing gender- based violence. SFCS, the Scarsdale Safe Coalition and its community partners aim to challenge these concepts in an upcoming community presentation entitled The Next Generation of Manhood. This in-person event will be facilitated by Ted Bunch, Chief Development Officer of “A Call to Men,” an organization that promotes healthy manhood and an equitable and inclusive culture. The program will be held on December 7th at 7:00 PM in the Little Theater of the Scarsdale High School.
Keeping our schools and community safe is the highest of priorities. According to the CDC, multiple forms of violence such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, bullying, and child maltreatment share many of the same root causes. Changing harmful norms around masculinity and femininity is one such root cause the Safe Coalition is striving to change. The mass shooting of an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs is yet another present-day example of how adherence to such norms can turn violent.
A Call to Men offers an invitation to boys and men to examine their ideas of manhood. This includes the role media, music, and culture play in bombarding men with messages labeling women as objects, property and perpetuating the belief that women are of lesser value than men. By encouraging boys and men to think critically about how they may be reinforcing these harmful beliefs, they can further vitalize the idea of healthy manhood. This program is not an indictment of manhood but an attempt to raise awareness and consciousness of the role healthy manhood plays in reducing gender-based violence. Safe Coalition Coordinator, Natalie Ramos said, “I think A Call to Men does an incredible job at raising awareness without blame or guilt to incite change but instead inciting change in a dynamic and engaging way.”
Ted Bunch is an author, educator and activist and is internationally recognized in his efforts preventing violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood. The evening’s program is being funded through a grant obtained from Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, who herself has been a strong and consistent advocate for women’s safety and gender equality. The event is an in-person only event and cannot be live-streamed or recorded.
The Safe Coalition members work with all sectors of the Scarsdale community to raise awareness about the multiple forms of violence and to reduce the risks factors facing Scarsdale families, communicate resources and strengthen the delivery of inter-community services. Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service serves as the lead agency for the coalition.
For more information, please contact Safe Coalition Coordinator, Natalie Ramos, LMSW at Nramos@sfcsinc.org or 914-721-2675.
Scarsdale Skaters Take Silver in Lake Placid
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- Written by Drew Hahn
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Scarsdale’s 10U ice hockey team earned a silver medal at the CAN/AM Challenge Cup tournament in Lake Placid, December 1 – 4. Additionally, Hudson Fix won first place in the skills competition for shooting and Jakob Waldman won first place for goaltending. The relay team of Quinten Collins, Charlie Hahn, Ronan Henry and Ben Lescott won runner-up.
The team played on both the 1932 Winter Olympics ice and the historic 1980’s ice where the underdog USA team defeated the Soviet Union to win gold, known as the “Miracle on Ice.”
Scarsdale Youth Hockey is an inclusive program which includes players from both Scarsdale and neighboring towns, from ages 5-18. More information can be found at scarsdalehockey.com.
Picture Courtesy: CAN/AM Hockey
Front (left to right): Eva Smith, Jax Mira, Harrison Wang, Josh Greenfield, Jakob Waldman, Oliver Kaplan, and Quinten Collins.
Middle: Ronan Henry, Thiago Lima, Ben Lescott, Jackson East, Davey Libfeld, Hudson Fix, and Charlie Hahn.
Back: Coaches Beau Lescott, Drew Hahn, and Jon Waldman.
IRS Issue Resolved: Total Cost $176,549
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The Scarsdale Schools District’s troubles with the I.R.S. appear to have come to a conclusion. A series of errors dating back to late 2020 resulted in the bureau imposing a $1.3mm lien on the district, which ultimately lead to the early resignation of Scarsdale Superintendent Thomas Hagerman in May 2022.
At the November 14, 2022 meeting of the Board of Education, Interim Superintendent Drew Patrick reviewed how this accounting issue had been concluded. The good news is that the district was refunded an extra $7,628 as the IRS reimbursed the earned interest on the funds they held. However, there were steep costs to addressing the matter. The fees for lawyers, the tax counsel, an investigator, the audit of the payroll tax withholding process, loss of interest on funds paid in addition to a savings on Dr. Hagerman’s salary totaled $184,178. So with the $7,628 credit, the incident ended up costing taxpayers $176,549.80.
To address the issue, the Board approved a corrective action plan for internal controls of the payroll processing procedure. You can see the plan here:
Here is the memo from the district explaining the resolution of the tax issue:
IRS Matter
A series of errors related to the payroll withholding function during the first, third, and fourth quarters of 2020, coupled with irregular communication practices from the IRS during this time period, resulted in the accumulation of a significant dollar amount of penalties and interest levied against the District. This culminated in a lien against district property. The details related to each issue are summarized below. Later in this memo is a financial accounting of the costs associated with this matter in sum and substance.
The accounting of costs is organized into three domains. First, the penalties and abatements amounted to a net $843,558.00 in costs to the District, which is the same amount the District sent to the IRS on 4/6/2022. The second component is rebates and recoveries from the IRS, which totalled $851,186.56. Together, the rebates and recoveries exceeded the penalties and abatements by $7,628.56. In other words, the district recovered more than it expended due to the reimbursement of earned interest on the amount paid and held by the IRS. The third component consists of related costs and recoveries associated with this matter. This included District counsel (general, labor), tax counsel, an investigator, an audit of our payroll tax withholding process, the calculation of estimated lost interest on money paid, and savings associated with salary breakage between the outgoing and incoming superintendent. This resulted in an estimated net cost of $184,178.36. In sum, the total net cost of resolving the IRS Matter was $176,549.80.
