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Show I School District Gets Bum Rap From Press audit's findings and have expressed a willingness to make whatever changes are necessary to insure that the district operates efficiently and legally. In fact, at their last meeting the board openly accepted the responsibility to adopt new policies and procedures. The press, however, didn't pick up on that. One daily, for instance, ran this headline based on their reporter's summation of the meeting: "Alpine District Agreeable to Grand Jury Probe." It is a catchy headline, but it doesn't represent the substance of the meeting. One citizen asked the board point blank if they would object to this probe. They said no. That was the only mention of a jury probe during three hours of discussions. To give the matter a headline was unprofessional. By the way, in my opinion a jury probe would be a waste of taxpayer's money. If there is sufficient cause for legal action to be taken against district officials, it has already been revealed in the year-long audit. A probe would simply be a duplication of services. It's not that I mind sensational headlines; some news stories are sensational. Perhaps this one is. But there is alot of difference between reporting the news and creating it: You'll notice that no reporter reporter that the district was wasting less than three percent of its monies (the two million represents 2.85 percent of the total budget). Why? Because it's much more sensational to report that two million dollars are being squandered. Still, that's a lot of money, especially since it's public funds that we're talking about. But if even some of the results of the audit are questionable as I've suggested, the district is running closer to acceptable efficiency than the allegations suggest. All I would hope from the press is that both sides of the story be presented -you know, the facts. Let the district response to the audit be reported along with the accusations. Let the public rather than the press judge the merits of the case, after they've been given a reliable and objective report on the matter. miTOR'S NOTE: Mr. Robinson is a free lance writer living in the Pleasant S 1 l,area. Recently he assumed part-time duties and information specialist i 1 Twriter with the Alpine School District. The following editorial was written W roWn time aS 3 Pr'Vate CitiZe" 1 U iS n0t a" of ficial district response. !l By MICHAEL L. ROBINSON 1 ike every other taxpayer, I have to chuckle a bit when I see a government ncv taking it on the chin. After all, we taxpayers have been knocked around her ! alot in recent years ; why not let the people who are spending our money take a TilS L blows too? ft lutenoughisenough. rm referring to the press coverage surrounding the recent legislative audit if I (inducted in the Alpine School District. If we can believe everything written in S i" newspapers and aired over TV and radio, we can only conclude that the : Strict is and has been directed by thieves and ruffians. b tneir haste to get sensational bylines and eye catching headlines, the press , '! overlooked the first and foremost precept of professional journalism - the Mih The truth - you remember, that stuff which is free of political hay and ? ! Incumbered by ulterior motives. i h' In this case, the political motives and press sensationalism surrounding the k I audit make the truth hard to get at. I The whole idea of a legislative audit was the brainchild of Lee Farnsworth, a 1 state legislator, who head "rumors" of educational mismanagment in the district. What he really heard was the toot of the political hornpipe, calling him 5'ei in Washington. It was no coincidence that the results of the audit were released in a well-timed press conference just before the Utah Republican nominating H' convention, where Farnsworth was a candidate for a Congressional seat. 1 j jn their excitement at the possibility of getting a scoop on corruption in local ectr: government, the press bought the whole yarn - hook, line and sinker. Headlines ) such as the following appeared next day in the state and local papers : "Alpine Uiir Blunders Cost $2 Million Yearly," "Audit Finds Flagrant Abuses of Funds in H Alpine District," and "Audit Finds Funds Squandered in Alpine." ! The news articles then described the audit's findings which alleged that some Si two million dollars are being wasted by the district on an annual basis. Implied in the allegations was that mismanagement and inefficiency have been ram-pant ram-pant in the district for several years and that this new audit had discovered the " real truth about malpractice in the district. !'l 'K in the first place, the district is and has been audited yearly by independent r K firms and by the State Office of Education as required by law. The 1981 general f' audit, conducted by independent Certified Public Accountants contained the following summary: "We have performed annual audits of the Alpine School District for the past three years and find their business department to be professional, competent and diligent in constantly upgrading their operations. In relation to the other school districts within the state of Utah, Alpine's business department would have to rank close to the top." Of course, positive statements such as these are not news. But back to the Legislative Audit: Were there legitimate concerns expressed in the audit? Yes. Were there improper and even illegal accounting or management procedures uncovered by the study? Yes. Was the entire audit accurate and professional? No. One of the major concerns in the study was the large inventories maintained by the district. According to the audit, more than a half million dollars could be saved annually through a reduction in these stocks. Items such as hack saw blades (which were purchased as war surplus items for nearly nothing) and paper plates were mentioned. It didn't occur to the auditors that overstocking in inflationary periods is good business. So what if the district has enough hack saw blades to cut its way out of every window in Alcatraz? They're still cheaper to store than to buy. And as for the paper plates, the alleged seven-year supply would be ghone in a couple of months if just one school's dishwasher broke down. More than a million dollars could be saved annually by changing the janitorial system says the audit. Here again, the figures are speculative and the alternative of private contracting for custodial services has not proved as efficient ef-ficient and feasible as the auditors maintain. The third major issue was that of purchasing procedures. Sketchy data in the audit maintains that nearly a half million dollars could be saved annually if the district adopted suggested purchasing procedures - notably, to always take the lowest bid. The assumption by the auditors is that lowest is always best. Any grocery shopper is aware, however, that buying at bargain prices is not always a bargain. What needs to be developed, apparently, are better purchase item descriptions, so that vendors are more aware of quality requirements. Almost all of the monies allegedly being squandered by the district are made up of these three issues. Many of the conclusions reached in the audit, in my opinion, are based on questionable sources, or worse yet, on hearsay. As I said, there are many worthwhile and valuable suggestions contained in the document. After all, nearly a year's work by several state auditors was spent on the audit; it should have produced something of substance. (By the way, no one up there seems to be too excited to reveal how much this audit cost taxpayers. Perhaps the media should check on it.) The Alpine Board and district staff have accepted responsibility for the |