Mixed Accounts
The audit report at Good Teaching Middle School revealed the following findings:
1. During both fiscal years of 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 at Good
Teaching Middle School, collections and disbursements from several
activities were commingled within the Classes and Clubs Eighth-Grade
account. Consequently, this commingling required a complete review of
all the financial activity posted to the account. Although some of the
activities did not raise sufficient revenues, all related expenditures
were covered with account balances carried over from the prior year. As
of June 30, 2017, the Classes and Clubs Eighth-Grade account balance was
nearly zero. This account started the 20152016 fiscal year with a
carryover balance of approximately $3,000.
2. The auditors' analyses of the 2015-2016 financial activity for
the Gradventure field trip disclosed that the school should have raised
$20,625 based on student participation; however, they could only trace
$19,925 to account postings identified as revenues collected for this
activity. This pointed to a revenue shortfall of $700 that could not be
explained by the school.
3. In the case of the end-of-the-year dance, for both fiscal
years, admission tickets were not issued to control the sale of
admissions. Instead, the school used Official Teacher’s receipts, which
although numbered, are not documented with a vendor’s invoice. This
condition precluded us from performing an analysis of these sales
accurately.
4. The school did not complete a Student Activity Operating Report for any of the eighth-grade activities.
5.
The yearbook was sold to students for $25 each. The school ordered 175
books; however, only 117 were sold for a leftover inventory of 58 books.
Revenues generated from the sales and ancillary activity amounted to
$3,600. However, this total was not sufficient to cover the yearbook
invoice, which amounted to approximately $4,000. The remaining balance,
or approximately $400 was paid with revenues from the General
Miscellaneous account.
6. Yearbook Monthly Operating Reports, the Yearbook Distribution
Report, and ancillary documentation for the 2016-2017 fiscal year was
not on file. The auditors inquired as to whether the school was
producing a yearbook in 2017-2018 and found that the school had already
placed an order with the yearbook publisher for 135 books. They also
found that, as of March 1, 2018, only 70 books had been sold. They met
with the yearbook sponsor, who stated that she had not received training
regarding the yearbook activity, and she was not aware that monthly
reports were required. Consequently, none had been prepared and filed
for the current year. The auditors discussed this matter with the
current school administration for their information and follow-up.
What systems would you put in place in order to correct the missteps of this administrator?
Instructions:
Write a thorough response discussing all steps that you would take
as the principal of the school to ensure this no longer occurs. Keep in
mind that this error cannot be repeated as it is an audit exception.
Sample Solution
During the 1960s, disadvantaging practices regarding housing, employment opportunities, the right to vote, and education were commonplace for Catholics across Northern Ireland (Beggan 2006, 63). With the IRA in “retirement,” nationalists took to the streets to protest and demonstrate. The state had two options: to repress the movement or politically open up to their demands (Beggan 2006, 63). Instead of using peaceful methods, the state pushed back violently, with actions such as republican-only internment without trial and opening fire on marches, leading to events like Bloody Sunday. These became the “consequences” for the civil rights movement, leading to this idea that fighting for equality could possibly get oneself killed. These circumstances were similar to many other movements across the globe, such as the black civil rights movement in America and the casualties that it wrought. The public, international view of the republican plight during this time was sympathetic, with many siding with the Catholics. There were comparisons of Bloody Sunday to the Sharpeville Massacre, and the prime minister of Ireland called it “an unwarranted attack on unarmed civilians” (Beggan 2006, 72; Fackles 1980, 28). There were photographs and televised accounts of the bloodshed, media with pictures of injured children and corpses being broadcasted around the globe. For a little while, the international support (in countries such as the United States with large Irish populations) of the insurgency was high, Many felt empathy for the nationalist marchers who were gunned down when protesting for their rights, and the injuries on the unionist side, while not as significant, were diminished in the face of the collective victimhood of the Catholics.
When the IRA returned in the late 1960s to combat discrimination with force and terrorism, the narrative did not immediately change. In a ten-year span, the grievances of the nationalist community had increased drastically. The rational solution morphed into fighting violence with violence, all under the logic that if the Catholics were given the same equal rights that the Protestants already had, the conflict would decrease or end completely. The unionists (police, government officials, even civilians) now became the victims, as they were targeted in the IRA’s attacks. On the other side, while many nonviolent nationalists were being unfairly interned, they were rarely killed. One IRA bombing in March 1972 killed two young women and injured seventy others. A senior doctor remembers how young the victims were, how they weren’t paratroopers or government officials. In a newspaper report, the horrors were described, noting how one of the girls “planned to marry” (McKittrick and McVea 2002, 78). The violence against the nationalist community on Bloody Sunday garnered support, but the violent attacks in response to the injustices from that event and many others made IRA seem more like terrorists. Freedom fighters wouldn’t be targeting and killing young women preparing to get married. To many, it seemed as if the IRA was killing without reason, as the conflict reported mo