Letter from a concerned parent

The June 23rd committee of the whole meeting generated a lot of emails. Here is one on how we choose an auditor.


I noted on the attachment to the agenda that the recommendations highly favor the current firm of Plante & Moran. It is also noted that Plante & Moran have been the district auditors since 1995. It is time to set aside ratings & preferences and look at reality. Any firm that has been doing the same process at the same location with the same clients for over 12 years will often suffer from complacency, and quite possibly errors & oversight. I do not need to mention the mistakes Plante & Moran has made in other districts where they clearly missed millions in embezzlement or the outstanding errors in accounting procedures. Those were districts that Plante & Moran were also already in a “comfort zone” with, much like LPS.

It is time, after 12 years, to place a new set of eyes on the audit process. Lets not let the “goodies & benefits” that Plante & Moran offers, or the camaraderie that district has long had with them, nor even the difference in price or ratings make the choice as a choice so obvious that we are missing the bigger picture. Now is the time to make a change to ensure complacency or oversight has not occurred in the past, and if so, will not occur in the future. We need to ensure accountability & accuracy in our school finances for the sake of all of our students, staff, and the entire LPS community.

As board members, your continued due diligence on behalf of the LPS community is necessary more now than ever before. The economic future does not appear to be returning to anything resembling the previous decade anytime soon, and even then we must protect for a huge reduction in economic status. Every penny counts today, and for tomorrow.