Internal audit: Knox County schools PPU fund needs better accounting

A Knox County audit that looked into the school system's physical plant upgrades account – one some officials dubbed a "slush fund" – recommends that officials do a better job tracking how the money assigned to it is spent and improve the overall accounting process to ensure that the money is spent how it was intended.

"I know it's not the most exciting thing, but it's an area that's really important," said the county's internal auditor, Andrea Addis. "To know when we spend money, when we're spending our money, that we know we're spending it in the right places. That's really what it comes down to."

The audit did not identify any areas officials found "criminal in nature," nor did it discover any "acts of fraud, waste (or) abuse," but none were expected, either.

Instead, auditors were tasked to conduct a "performance audit," something that looks at how the accounting process works and whether officials followed the rules.

Addis said "there's areas to improve," but noted: "There's nothing that jumps out that says 'hey, this is a really bad thing,' or 'there's something going on here," but it's just about building a stronger structure."

She said more controls in place would give officials the "tools to monitor their performance and hold them accountable for their performance."

The entire story, RIGHT HERE.

The audit, RIGHT HERE.