2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 2 - School District Organization › Article 43 - School District Officers--Town and County Officials › Part 1 - General Provisions › 2116-C - Audit Committees.

§  2116-c.  Audit  committees.  1. Every school district, except those
employing fewer than eight teachers, shall establish by a resolution  of
the  trustees  or  board  of education an audit committee to oversee and
report to the trustees or board on the  annual  audit  of  the  district
records  as  required  by  section  twenty-one hundred sixteen-a of this
article.
2. The audit committee shall be  established  no  later  than  January
first,  two  thousand six as a committee of the trustees or board, as an
advisory committee,  or  as  a  committee  of  the  whole.  An  advisory
committee  may  include,  or  be composed entirely of persons other than
trustees or members of the board if, in the opinion of the  trustees  or
board,  such  membership is advisable to provide accounting and auditing
expertise.
3. The audit committee shall consist of at least  three  members,  who
shall  serve without compensation. Committee members shall be reimbursed
for any actual  and  necessary  expenditures  incurred  in  relation  to
attendance  at meetings. Employees of the school district are prohibited
from serving on the audit committee. A  member  of  an  audit  committee
shall  be  deemed a school district officer for the purposes of sections
thirty-eight hundred eleven through  thirty-eight  hundred  thirteen  of
this  chapter,  but shall not be required to be a resident of the school
district.
4.  The  role  of  an  audit  committee  shall  be  advisory  and  any
recommendations  it provides to the trustees or board under subdivisions
five and six of this section  shall  not  substitute  for  any  required
review and acceptance by the trustees or board of education. If required
by  a  regulation  adopted  by the commissioner, the annual audit report
prepared by an independent certified public accountant or an independent
public accountant  shall  not  be  deemed  final  until  accepted  by  a
resolution adopted by the trustees or board of education.
5. It shall be the responsibility of the audit committee to:
(a)  provide recommendations regarding the appointment of the external
auditor for the district;
(b) meet with the external auditor prior to commencement of the audit;
(c) review and discuss with the external auditor any  risk  assessment
of  the  district's fiscal operations developed as part of the auditor's
responsibilities under governmental auditing standards for  a  financial
statement audit and federal single audit standards if applicable;
(d)  receive and review the draft annual audit report and accompanying
draft management letter and, working directly with the external auditor,
assist  the  trustees  or  board  of  education  in  interpreting   such
documents;
(e)  make  a  recommendation  to the trustees or board of education on
accepting the annual audit report; and
(f) review every corrective action plan to be developed  by  a  school
district  as  required  by  section twenty-one hundred sixteen-a of this
article  and  assist  the  trustees  or  board  of  education   in   the
implementation of such plan.
6.  In addition, it shall be the responsibility of the audit committee
to assist in the oversight of the internal audit  function  required  by
section twenty-one hundred sixteen-b of this article, including, but not
limited  to,  providing recommendations regarding the appointment of the
internal auditor for the school  district,  the  review  of  significant
findings  and recommendations of the internal auditor, monitoring of the
school  district's  implementation  of  such  recommendations,  and  the
evaluation of the performance of the internal audit function.
7.  Notwithstanding  any  provision  of  article  seven  of the public
officers law or any other law to the contrary, a school  district  audit

committee  may  conduct  an  executive  session  pursuant to section one
hundred five of the public officers law pertaining  to  any  matter  set
forth in paragraphs b, c, and d of subdivision five of this section. Any
trustee  or member of the board of education who is not a member of such
audit committee may be allowed to attend an audit committee  meeting  if
authorized by a resolution of the trustees or board of education.
8.  The  commissioner  is  authorized  to  promulgate regulations with
respect to audit committees as is necessary for the  proper  performance
of their duties.
9.  As  long as the chancellor of a school district in a city having a
population of one million or more inhabitants shall annually certify  to
the commissioner that such district has a process for review by an audit
committee  of  the  district's  annual  audit  that meets or exceeds the
requirements of this section, the provisions of this section  shall  not
apply to such school district.