The school board is not perfect, but now they know how to make themselves better.

Teresa Davis, audit manager, presented the 2008-2009 audit from the state Department of Public Accounts to the board, and now it is up to the board to correct the four issues found from the reports.

The audit states that the board did not record the correct value of land owned or buildings, schools did not correctly record receipts or deposit monies in a timely manner, payments were made to vendors without adequate supporting documents and the board did not have adequate documentation for the attendance of students during the first 20 days of school following Labor Day.

To combat the improper documentation of student attendance, the system hired two additional attendance clerks, one for Selma Middle CHAT Academy and one for Selma High School, to keep records of unexcused absences of students.

“What it does is basically track students and the number of days that they are absent from school and notify parents,” said Don Jefferson, Selma City Schools interim superintendent. “It’s a situation of trying to be proactive in notifying parents before they actually get to the point of dropping out of school.”

The system records unexcused absences for students in all grades, but hired additional help for the upper grades because the schools have more students than the elementary schools.

If a student does not present a note stating the reason for the absence within three days, then each unexcused absence they accumulate is linked to an action by the school.

For the first two unexcused absences, the student’s homeroom teacher must contact the parent or guardian in regards to the absence.

For the third absence, the parent or guardian receives a written notification of the student absence.

The school schedules a conference with the parent at the fourth absence.

For the fifth absence, the student and truant officer meet for counseling.

Students must meet with the “teen court” at the school after the sixth absence, pay a $25 fine and complete the sanctions decided by the court, such as an assignment or clean up hours.

At seven unexcused absence, a petition is filed and the student must go before a juvenile judge.

“What we’re doing is making sure students are bringing in their excuses when they are absent,” said Crystal Boykin, attendance and public relations supervisor.

By tracking absences, the intent is to identify students who show early warnings of truancy.

Auditors also found the board recorded an overstated value for Selma High School, stating it is as a $18,069,631 value, an amount the board found to be unreasonable for a building constructed in 1939.

It was also recorded that Meadowview Elementary and Selma High School, did not have adequate procedures for reimbursement because the tie between receipt of funds and their deposit ranged from four to 49 days, not a timely manner according to auditors.

Auditors also found that Meadowview Elementary and Payne Elementary paid vendors without having adequate documentation.

To remedy these issues, the board will adhere strictly to the proper purchasing, payment and recording guidelines, Jefferson stated in a letter to the state Department of Public Accounts.

The report is for the period of Oct. 1, 2008 until Sept. 30, 2009. To view the full audit report, visit www.examiners.alabama.gov, click on audit reports and Aug. 20.