Audit verifies serious problems facing school district

Pennsylvania’s Auditor General spent a year and a half inspecting the Philadelphia Public Schools’ records.  He found some serious issues.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DiPasquale says after a complete review of the district’s finances, his auditors found multiple problems, but the first one can’t be solved just by the district.

“The school district’s finances and the long-term structure that is currently in place is broken.  There is simply no way that the district alone or the city alone can fix this.”

The audit also found deficiencies in the background checks of district employees, including police officers and bus drivers.  Superintendent William Hite says his staff is fixing that right away.

“We have been working diligently to get all 14 thousand individuals who need background  checks to have those background checks completed.”

DiPasquale also worried the district is paying more interest than principal on loans, but says changing that requires more state dollars.