Wednesday, July 31, 1996

Sharp unhappy with auditor's report on school savings

By JASON NEWMAN
Staff Writer

State Comptroller John Sharp counts himself among those unhappy with the state auditor's savings report for area schools.

Since the report was released earlier this month, Sharp sent a letter distancing himself from it to the superintendent of each district targeted for potential savings.

In the letter, Sharp states, "... I want to make sure you understand that the state auditor does not work for me. ... I'm not responsible for his report, and frankly I'm glad I'm not."

Sharp goes on to state, "... I believe the process the state auditor uses is unfair and flawed.
Comparing the water bills of a district in West Texas to those of a district in East Texas just isn't fair."

Sharp's office also releases a report, the Texas School Performance Review, that seeks to help districts save money.

The similarities between the two reports end there, said Sheila Clancy, spokeswoman for the state comptroller's office, where phones have been ringing off the hook with questions about the state auditor's report.

"A lot of people get confused, but it (the state auditor) is a whole separate agency," Clancy said. "Mr. Sharp's studies are tailored to the district, and the state auditor seems to do it blindly."

The Texas Association of School Boards is concerned with the state auditor's office report for similar reasons and, like Sharp, has sent out a letter to superintendents detailing flaws in the report's methodology.

Dan Casey, research director for the TASB, said the main problem the TASB has with the report is that the "shotgun we ding of districts" used to determine potential savings does not reflect economic variances in different locations throughout the state.

When one district is listed as having a lower water bill than another, Casey said, it may just be that the rates for water are lower there.

"It's certainly too general to label those differences as savings unless you've examined them and nothing goes to that next step in this report," Casey said.

The TASB is also concerned that the public is being misled by the report.

"I think the public expects something that comes from the state auditor's office to be a fair representation, and in this case it's not," Casey said.