State Auditor's Office Questions Spending by Bellevue High School Auto Shop Club

Thousands of dollars in expenses by the Bellevue High School Auto Shop Club came under question by the State Auditor's Office after investigators found that the club bought auto parts for the advisor's personal cars and was never repaid, and the advisor sought reimbursement for items not related to the club, according to a report released last week by the State Auditor's Office.

In a report released last week, the auditor's office found that in the 2009-10 school year, the Bellevue School District’s internal controls over Associated Student (ASB) Body Auto Shop activities at Bellevue High School were inadequate to determine if a loss of public funds occurred.

The auto shop club is an ASB club that trains students in auto repair by working on the cars of paying customers. The audit was sparked by a complaint  to district officials, who contacted the state auditor, according to Bellevue district spokeswoman Jacqueline Coe.

The advisor during the time period of the audit was Fred Treadwell, according to school documents.

The district, which also conducted its own investigation, assigned a different advisor to the club during the investigation, which started earlier this school year, and the new advisor would return to the club next school year, Coe said.

The review was conducted of the 2009-10 school year, said auditor's office spokeswoman Mindy Chambers. The report noted that the club had been without oversight since 1992.

Coe said that the district agreed with the finds that that there were inadequate internal controls, and the district put into place a new manual and trained all club advisors on money handling.

"It's important to note that no fraud had occurred," Coe said. "That said, the lack of documentation-- there was very poor accounting, and that is just not acceptable."

According to the auditor's office, among the undocumented purchases were the following:

• The club paid for $2,437 in parts that were purchased for the club advisor’s personal cars without documentation of reimbursement to the District.
• The club sold a donated BMW to the club advisor for $500 on February 2, 2009. The vehicle had received extensive work and multiple new parts that were worth more than $500. Furthermore, investigators found documentation showing the club purchased $716.70 in parts between June 2009 and the audit period without reimbursement from the club advisor.
• The club advisor had extensive work done to a Mercedes he owned. In addition, the cub purchased $1,263.17 in parts for this vehicle, for which the advisor never reimbursed the club. Investigators were unable to determine if the advisor purchased the car from the club because the club doesn’t retain sales documentation.
• The club advisor ordered auto parts in 2008 totaling $457.61 for his wife’s vehicle. Investigators found no documentation to show the advisor reimbursed the club for the parts.

• The club advisor had been taking receipts from customers for vehicle repairs, and then would pay the school's accountant without the supporting documents and recording the payments under his name. The advisor paid the school $1,108.88, but it is unclear what was purchased as no documentation was retained.
• The advisor repaid some expenses using the District’s cost rather than the list price that contains the 40 percent markup, which is prohibited per District policy. We were unable to determine the total amount of these costs as the prior year’s documentation was not retained.

The auditor's office also found that the club advisor asked for reimbursement for items purchased at a grocery store and a hardware store that were not related to club expenses. The club also spent $1,241 on pizza, donuts and snacks which were used for the auto shop class, which is strictly prohibited.

Coe said that the district was working with the advisor's union to try to reimburse the school for purchases made.