NLESD acquiring new financial system to fix issues flagged in scathing AG report
The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District has moved forward with the purchase of a new financial management system that carries a multimillion-dollar price tag.
The move comes in the wake of a critical auditor general's report a year and a half ago.
School board trustees voted to approve the decision last October but agreed to wait until the end of January to make it final.
That gave the province more time to look into a "shared services" option that would have piggybacked the school board onto the core government's financial system.
In the end, that "shared services" model didn't happen.
In a statement, the NLESD said the new system "is designed specifically to meet the complex needs of school boards."
The upfront cost and implementation — including personnel to set up and operate the system — could tally up as high as $2.7 million. But the bill to run the system after that is not expected to be much different from what the district is paying now.
Officials say the cash outlay is being funded by the board, primarily from a restricted fund linked to the sale of surplus assets over the last few years.
The core functions of the new system are expected to be online for the start of the September 2021 school year, after the necessary training is done.
HR and payroll functions are expected to follow a year later, for the September 2022 school year.
'Pervasive' problems ID'd by AG
A report released by Auditor General Julia Mullaley in September 2018 found "pervasive" financial rule-breaking and oversight problems at the school board.
Mullaley said there were "significant weaknesses" in the NLESD's financial system.
Her findings were referred to police, but no charges have since been laid.
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