Audit: Errors in Valley Stream school district's vacation, separation payments

An audit released by the New York State Comptroller on Nov. 25 found that District 24 officials did not always account for employees’ leave accruals accordingly, and that they needed to streamline the process by which separation payment calculations are reviewed, approved and supported.

Leave accruals are time off that employees have earned. Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), individual employment contracts and board-approved policies generally address the accumulation and use of leave time and establish each employee’s entitlement to leave benefits. According to the report, a strong system of controls over employee leave benefits and compensation at separation reduces the risk that errors or irregularities will occur and remain undetected and uncorrected.

Employees who separate from District service are sometimes eligible for payments for their unused leave time as specified in their CBAs or individual employment contracts.

The audit found the following inconsistencies between July 2014 and February 2016:

One employee, who had exhausted all available sick leave, received a leave donation of 27.5 days of sick leave totaling $16,900 from the Assistant Superintendent, which was not consistent with written employment agreements.

The assistant superintendent at the time used 6.5 vacation days from the previous year, at a value of $5,920, even though his employment contract agreement stated that unused annual vacation time for the respective school year should be forfeited.

One employee received a separation payment of $26,290 instead of the $13,145 to which she was entitled, resulting in an overpayment of $13,145.

One employee received a separation payment of $3,652 instead of the $1,826 to which she was entitled, resulting in an overpayment of $1,826.

One sick bank payment case, dealt with an employee who was a “seriously ill employee,” Superintendent Edward Fale wrote in a response to the audit.

Fale said that district officials, who had already taken steps to correct the errors, suggested many of the recommendations in the audit to auditors before the report was completed.

“We affirm the two overpayments logged in this report as having been identified by the district prior to the audit and actively being pursued for reimbursement,” he wrote.