Kim MacPherson calls for new system to track school-raised cash

Auditor General Kim MacPherson is raising concerns over a lack of transparency on how schools raise money and spend it and is calling for better controls to be put in place.

MacPherson's report, which was released in the legislature on Tuesday, said money raised to support student activities, such as sports, drama and other activities, amounts to $27 million a year throughout the province.

But the province's top financial watchdog said there has been a patchwork of systems put in place across school districts to account for all of the money being brought in by students.

"There is no mandatory reporting required by policy. There is no reporting required by the district education councils," MacPherson said.

"The district is not providing school-raised fund reports to the department. Public reporting is not required. And there is inconsistent district oversight processes."

MacPherson said the provincial is now recording and tracking some of the money. But the auditor general is calling for a new system to be put in place.

She said the Department of Education started working on a policy about school funds but it has been stalled since 2008.

One of the auditor general's recommendations is a move to online payment systems, rather than having students bring in cash.

"This would reduce the risk of cash loss, administrative burden for teachers and make it easier for parents to provide funds," the report said.

"Because the scope of the school cash collection process is province-wide and literally affects thousands of administrators, parents, students and teachers, the effect of moving to an online cash collection process would be significant."

She said there is a very real risk of not following through on her recommendations.

"We also noted school-raised funds are more susceptible to theft or mismanagement than other financial transactions as they are comprised of a high-volume of cash transactions with limited staff in schools trained to administer and manage the funds," the report said.