Nov. 17, 2009 — The Westwood Charter School received a clean audit for the 2008-09 school year.    

That means there were no audit exceptions, which are areas that must be reviewed and corrected according to state guidelines.    

“There were no recommendations for changes from the auditors. That was a real positive statement. We are following state requirements on all fiscal as well as attendance procedures during the year of 2008-09, and we are continuing those same procedures for the 2009-10 year based on the audit,” said Henry Bietz, the superintendent for Westwood Charter School.    

He added in all the years he has been a superintendent it was one of the few times he has had an audit with absolutely no exceptions.   

Audit exceptions might be in the area of segregation of duties or a need to have accounts cleared up, said Bietz.   

Charter schools in California have only been required to have their finances and attendance procedures audited for a couple of years, according to Bietz. However, WCS has gone through the audit process since it was created about eight years ago. It uses a state recognized audit firm in San Diego. These audits from the beginning of the charter school are open for public inspection, he added.   

To determine if attendance records are accurate, since attendance generates state revenue, auditors pull several student files at random and follow each through a year of attendance and academic performance.    

In an independent study program like WCS, a student must complete 80 percent of their work during each learning period in order to qualify for attendance in the charter school. In addition, the student must perform in the 80th percentile in order for it to count.   

As a result of the strict criteria on attendance, WCS has set in place a three strikes policy, said Bietz. The student is given three opportunities to meet the baseline requirements and if they don’t, they are referred back to the district of residence.   

“It holds the students as well as the parents accountable for the performance. Secondly, there is no point in the teachers preparing all the work for the students if they don’t do it,” added Bietz.   

The financial portion of the audit is similar to most school districts. Auditors look at expenditures to make sure funds generated by attendance are spent properly as well as grant monies or categorical funds. The auditors review expenditures for compliance with state and federal law, said Bietz.    

The WCS audit report is sent to the Westwood Unified School District, which holds the charter, the Lassen County Office of Education and to the California State Controller’s Office. Once it has passed state scrutiny the final payment is given to the auditing company.    

With the audit complete the books for that school year are closed, explained Bietz. Also the information from the audit is used for funding purposes. A charter school must show that it spends 80 percent of its budget on instructional services in order to qualify for 100 percent of state apportionment payment. Instructional services include teacher salaries, instructional material and teacher training.    

Currently WCS is targeting the area of math for instructional training because its state test scores indicate this is an area in need of improvement. According to Bietz, they are also purchasing more intervention materials including online math programs and tutoring via small classrooms.    

Charter schools have the same academic requirements as regular schools with elementary school students focusing on the four core subjects of math, science, social studies and English as well as electives. High school students must complete 220 units of credit that include math, science, social studies and English.   

 Bietz said one of the unique aspects of a charter school is the personal relationships teachers develop with students and their families.    

“Teachers know exactly what the students needs are and bend over backwards to provide personal services to those students,” said Bietz.   

The audit for the 2008-09 school year shows that the charter school is fiscally able to continue into the future.