Richland 1 loses appeal of fiscal watch status after state audit criticized spending
The Richland 1 school district lost an appeal to the S.C. Department of Education to be removed from a fiscal watch status after the state issued a critical report of the Midlands school district’s credit card spending.
In December, the district was notified it was being placed on so-called fiscal watch status after state auditors reported concerns about the use of purchasing cards, or “p-cards,” by Richland 1 employees.
In a letter, then-state Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said the investigation found “significant deficiencies and material weaknesses” that could affect the financial well-being of the district.
Of the district’s 426 p-card statements and 3,858 transactions between March 2022 and August 2022, the state flagged nearly 90 issues, from omitting information on paperwork to excessive p-card charges. District officials have said that all purchases made with p-cards were business-related and that the district is implementing additional steps, reminders and consequences to prevent future oversight.
Being placed under fiscal watch means the school district must submit a financial recovery plan to be approved by the state education department. A fiscal watch is the lowest level of officially identified financial concern that a school district can be placed under, per state law. The fiscal watch status can’t be lifted in the same financial year it has been placed on a district, state law says.
On Tuesday, Richland 1 announced its appeal to the state department had been denied.
“As previously communicated, Richland One maintains strong internal controls (checks and balances), which include a review of all P-card transactions on a monthly basis by our Procurement Department,” Richland 1 spokesperson Karen York said in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon. “Also, as stated in our response to the State Department of Education, the district has worked and continues to work to tighten those internal controls even further.”
Last fall, a Richland 1 procurement manager, Travis Antonio Bradley, was indicted on embezzlement and misconduct in office charges for allegedly misusing $23,170.41 in public money to make personal purchases with the district’s purchasing cards.
