COLUMBIANA CO. Center undergoes state audit

Travel expenses were approved in advance.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Anna Marie Vaughn, superintendent of the Columbiana County Educational Service Center, isn't sure what will happen after a recent state audit questioned a center spending item.
Ultimately, Vaughn said, she believes that nothing will happen.
In the meantime, she's been trying to get her questions answered with little success.
The Ohio Auditor's Office recently questioned the center's spending of $20,738 for travel expenses as part of a study to improve mentoring programs for first-year teachers.
The actual expenses were not questioned, said Joe Case, a spokesman for the state auditor.
The state auditors didn't feel comfortable approving the travel expenditures because there was no prior approval for them in the grant proposal, Case said.
Any further action is up to either the Ohio Department of Education, which approved the grant to the center, or the U.S. Department of Education, which provided the funds, Case said. The federal government requires prior approval of travel expenditures.
What happened
Two years ago, the state department of education asked for proposals for a mentoring study and divided federal funds between the center and Ohio State University. The center received $120,000.
The center then created a team of one of its staff members, one professor from both the University of Akron and Youngstown State University, and two retired professors from YSU.
They looked at how to get the right tools into the hands of experienced teachers to mentor first-year educators. Members of the group presented the findings at eight conferences. Most were to major educational groups in the United States, and one presentation was made to the International Conference for Educators at its world meeting in the Netherlands.
Such presentations were part of the proposal, Vaughn said.
But the center didn't have a budget line item for travel expenses. Instead, it followed its normal procedures and put funds for travel into a "purchased services" account.
The actual travel costs were approved by the center in advance -- "the way we always do," Vaughn said.
After the first year of funding, the center reported its progress and travel expenditures to the state education department. That included the travel costs up to that point. There was no response from the state.
wilkinson@vindy.com