By JIM BUTLER

Independent auditors finding disregard for policy and procedure in handling school activity funds should come as no surprise to School Board members and staff.

The system’s own internal auditor found more than 40 instances of breech of policy in spot checks during the year ending last June 30.

The official audit, reported to the Board in mid-December, released Monday and discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting, repeats a previous year’s finding — spot check of schools reveals shortcomings in following policy as relates to receipts, disbursements, proper support documentation, timely bank reconciliation, fundraisers, canteen/concession inventory and game tickets.

The Board’s response indicates meetings were held in January to again plow the policy ground.

Among auditors’ notes:

Site checks showed Buckeye High and then-Bolton High non-compliant in some areas.

In the case of Bolton, the finding was similar to that in last year’s audit.

Auditors also found Alexandria Senior High had not yet corrected two areas of non-compliance first discussed in the 2017-18 audit.

And prior year shortcomings at H.R. Lawrence Upper Elementary and Arthur F. Smith Middle School persisted, though four of eight previous findings at the latter had been addressed.

The audit reports the system’s total revenues as $402.6 million, an increase of about $50 million over the preceding year, and total expenses of $350.4 million, up $19.1 million from a year earlier.

The difference results in a $52.2 million increase in net position, raising it to $305.3 million, a number heavily weighted by the system investment in capital improvements.

Instruction expense for the year totaled $158 million, with $126 million labeled regular instruction.