The January 5, 2022 Organizational Meeting of the Cuyahoga Heights Board of Education opened with a visitor bearing good news. Jake Altman, Northeast Regional Liaison for Auditor of State Keith Faber, presented the school district with the Auditor of State Award for its 2019 audit report. This is the second time the district has received this award.
“I’m happy to present the Auditor of State award to the Cuyahoga Heights Local School District,” said Altman in his remarks to the Board. “This speaks to everybody in the District pulling together and doing the right things on the financial side. It goes from teachers, the board, the administration, parent volunteers, coaches -- everybody pulling together for this and it puts you in great company because about eight percent of all entities are able to receive this award. It speaks to the professionalism of Matthew Mucchio (district treasurer) and his staff in their professionalism in the Treasurer’s Office so on behalf of his staff, congratulations!”
“I just want to recognize Kathy Martin (Assistant Treasurer) and Yalixa Rodriguez (Payroll and Human Resources Specialist) for their outstanding work in the Treasurer’s Office,” remarked Muccio. “We are an absolute team and these two are rock stars. The award is entirely on their shoulders because they do a fantastic job and I can't articulate it enough that without their help here at the district and as a team in the Treasurer’s Office, we would not be the solid business we are.”
The Auditor of State Award is presented annually to local governments and school districts upon the completion of a financial audit. In order to qualify, entities must meet specific criteria for a “clean” audit report. This criteria is listed below
- The financial report must be filed by the statutory due date with the Auditor of State’s office without extension and in accordance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles);
- The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weakness, significant deficiencies, Uniform Guidance (Single Audit) findings or questioned costs;
- The entity’s management letter contains no comment related to:
- Ethics referrals
- Questionable costs
- Lack of timely annual financial report submission
- Bank reconciliation issues
- Failure to obtain a timely Single Audit in accordance with Uniform Guidance
- Findings for recovery less than $500
- Public meetings or public records issues
- The entity has no other financial or other concerns
Full copies of these reports are available online at the Auditor of State’s website.
Photo Captions:
Pictured left to right are CHS Treasurer Matthew Muccio, Payroll/HR Specialist Yalixa Rodriguez, Assistant Treasurer Kathy Martin, and Jake Altman, Northeast Regional Liaison from the State Auditor’s Office.
Pictured left to right: Matthew Muccio, Lyndie Schuckert, Stephanie Prause, Tom Evans (back), Mark Dobbins (front), Kathy Martin, Yalixa Rodriguez (holding award), Maria Eder, Gary Suchocki, and Jake Altman.