Photo: RNZ
Report finds some schools acting outside the law
Auditors have called out schools for spending their money on boat cruises, food for local families and travel for principals - and in some cases their partners.
The auditor-general's annual report on schools' 2024 accounts said more schools than the previous year were struggling financially or spent money inappropriately, and many still failed to plan ahead for building maintenance.
The report said 27 schools needed Ministry of Education guarantees for their finances - about four times as many as the previous year.
It said schools needed guidance on "sensitive expenditure" and on planning maintenance for their buildings.
The report said one school board provided so little financial information auditors could not give an opinion on their accounts.
That was the combined board of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manurewa and Te Wharekura Manurewa and applied to their 2021, 2022 and 2023 audits.
"The school board did not retain accounting records and relevant supporting documents to underpin the financial statements," the report said.
"We also could not obtain evidence that controls over the school's expenditure and payroll were in place and operating effectively during the years that we were auditing."
It said auditors highlighted issues in 64 audit reports and at 21 schools this related to use of schools' $6000-a-year fund for professional coaching and support for principals.
"We drew attention to some spending on personal travel for the principal and, in some instances, companions because there was no clear business purpose for it," the report said.
"In some instances, there was a lack of documentation or receipts to support the business purpose of the principal's travel. For most of these, there was a clear business rationale for the travel, but there was additional travel and spending (such as on tourist activities) that appeared to be personal in nature.
"Any personal travel incorporated into business travel should be at no additional cost to the school."
Some of the larger sums involved included:
- Glenview School in Hamilton spent $29,458 on trips to Canada, Vietnam, and Samoa that had business purposes but did not provide enough evidence that all the spending had a clear business purpose or was in keeping with expectations about how public funds were used.
- Fairfield College in Hamilton paid $17,155 for its principal to travel to Alaska and Canada. The travel through Alaska and Canada was for research, but there was not enough evidence that all the spending, including during stopovers in Hawai'i and New York, had a clear business purpose.
- Haeata Community Campus School paid $18,500 for a trip to Queenstown for professional coaching and well-being for its senior leadership team but did not provide enough evidence that all the spending had a clear business purpose.
- Maraenui Bilingual School in Napier paid $9086 for the now-former principal to attend a relative's tangi and $7058 for that principal and a family member to travel to Rarotonga but did not provide enough evidence that the spending had a clear business purpose linked to student outcomes.
The report said the Ministry of Education had developed new guidance and criteria for spending on professional coaching and well-being support which would be published early next year.
Other sensitive spending issues included:
- Rotorua School's principal spending $38,882 of school funds on meals and entertainment for 44 students and adults on a trip to the US in 2023 but not providing receipts.
- Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Mangere spending $35,025 on hospitality and entertainment for staff including "$22,833 on a boat cruise for 45 people and other spending that we consider is neither moderate nor conservative".
- Sutton Park School, which spent $11,017 for a staff planning meeting at SkyCity and "distributed $14,227 of food to families of school pupils during the Covid-19 lockdown and gave $4000 of Pak'nSave gift vouchers to families of school pupils for the vaccination drive, which did not have a clear business purpose".
The report said auditors noted some instances where schools broke the law.
It said two schools met the costs of an international student through a scholarship, even though legislation required schools charge fees that at least covered the costs of tuition and capital facilities.
Eight schools borrowed more money than they were allowed to and 10 schools breached conflict of interest requirements by entering contracts with board members worth more than $25,000 without the secretary for education's approval.
The report said 51 schools did not provide enough evidence about their plans for ongoing maintenance of their buildings.
The report said some schools did not keep adequate records of community-raised funds or sports fees.
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