An audit of the Panther Valley School District by the state showed inadequate documention and that the district failed to comply with previous recommendations.

The lack of documentation, combined with errors in student data reporting, has cost the district $67,299 in a state subsidy.Combined with a previous audit report period, the errors may have cost the district nearly $150,000 in state subsidies in a three-year period, which, the state says, is "insignificant" when compared with overall state funding totals.The audit is requesting that adjustments in the reporting be made and that the Pennsylvania Department of Education then reimburse the district the $67,299.The report says, "Although the district has put forth a detailed plan to address this deficiency, we are highly skeptical of its commitment to implement our recommendations."Seven years of problemsThe audit said the district has erred in student data reporting for seven years, four times resulting in overpayment of subsidies and then three years resulting in the underpayment.Two other items which haven't been addressed by the district from an audit report dated Jan. 26, 2012:• The auditor has criticized the district for not implementing recommendations made in a prior audit which urges the district to better retain records of bus driver qualifications.• One board member "might have engaged in prohibited conduct and failed to file statement of financial interests."The board member is not identified. However, the report notes that the official in reference is no longer on the board.The audit, conducted by the office of the state auditor general, comes at a time when the board is working on its 2014-2015 budget, which promises to be a very tight budget with a 2- or 3-mill tax increase."District personnel did not maintain adequate documentation demonstrating the nonresident status of its children placed in private homes (foster children) and inaccurately reported the membership for these students," the audit says.The errors resulted in underpayments of $9,870 for the 2010-11 school year and $57,429 for the 2011-12 school year.The report adds, "It should be noted that this is our fourth consecutive audit of the district that has included a finding related to student data reporting errors. Our prior audit found that it inaccurately reported membership for the district's foster children to PDE, which resulted in a reimbursement overpayment of $22,633 for the 2008-09 school year and an underpayment of $86,229 for the 2009-10 school year."The audit says, "District personnel understated membership days for foster children by 247 for secondary students during the 2010-11 school year."District personnel also understated membership days for foster children by 242 for elementary students and 959 for secondary students during the 2011-12 school year, according to the report."These errors occurred because the district personnel made clerical errors and inadvertently reported these students as resident membership, voiding the nonresident status of foster children."The errors had an insignificant effect on the district's basic education funding, the document noted.In the 2012 audit, it had been recommended that the Department of Education reimburse the district $63,596.However, this hasn't occurred, the audit says, because "the district did not implement our prior recommendations."School officials did not return calls seeking comment this morning.